Finally I hope the photos below show the scale of the rebuild, turning the small Greek Hovel into an eco palace. I was shocked at the, rapid, progress made since February and my last visit. The scale of what is being undertaken is only now dawning on me. We start with the shutters and door to the bat room which used to have open gaps and an earth and rock floor - it was where the animals ( both domesticated and wild) lived.
The concrete srea in front of the bat room (photo two) will be tiled and will sit underneath a large decked area which one approaches from the second floor. Photos three, four five and six are of the new part of the house which will more than double its size.
Photo seven is of the now much enlarged rat room. If you look carefully, the boulder that once stood outside the hovel has - as instructed - been incorporated into this wall. Eight shows the inside of the now almost complete bat room. I am using traditional materials and designs, the floor of the bat room ( and in due course the rat room and the ground floor of the new wing - the master bedroom - are my one nod to modernity in that I am using polished concrete but I think it looks great.
The next photo is from the room I used to sleep in with the rats inside and snakes trying to get in through cracks I plastered up. It is on the second floor and although without a roof right now has had its external stonework sorted and will be the kitchen and route out to that decking mentioned earlier.
The last two photos show the stone we uncovered marking the construction of the old house in 1924. It has been relocated to what will be the external wall of the new room above the bat room which has no internal walls as it leads directly into the upper level of the new wing.
The builders say that the rat room should have a roof and be semi habitable within weeks and we are still on track to complete this part of the project by August. Then it is phase two ( an infinity swimming pool looking out on the deserted convent on the other side of the valley) and three (a second house where the old ruin once stood, about 400 yards away. It is all very exciting indeed...
