Ivélia did not begin as a business idea. It began as a family home, a dream my mother carried for many years and a story passed from one generation to the next.
The Story Behind Ivélia: A Family Home Reimagined
From childhood memories in Athens to a boutique home created for new stories.
Ivélia did not begin as a business idea. It began as a family home, a dream my mother carried
for many years and a story passed from one generation to the next.
The apartment first belonged to my grandfather, who worked in shipping and tourism. It passed
to my mother and eventually to me. Long before short-term rentals existed, my mother
imagined transforming it from a professional space into a beautiful Athenian home. She wanted
to preserve the elegance and character of an old Athens residence.
The Home My Mother Imagined
My mother, had a deeply artistic nature. She grew up surrounded by travel, education and
cultural curiosity, thus her inclination in painting. Her original artwork is part of the family’s
artistic legacy and continues to inspire the spirit of Ivélia today.
After my grandfather died, the apartment was rented for professional use. Over time, it lost
much of its domestic identity. The kitchen disappeared, the mosaic floor cracked, the wooden
surfaces suffered and some original elements—including doors—were removed.
When my mother passed away too soon, her dream remained with me.
By then, I had moved to Kos, met my husband and created our own family. My husband
believed in the project from the beginning. He became my closest ally throughout the
renovation and encouraged me to do what my mother had once imagined: allow the house to
live again.
Restoring Rather Than Erasing
The aim was never to erase the apartment’s age. It was to care for what had survived, repair
what could be saved and introduce new elements that felt worthy of its history.
We restored the wooden floors, marble and built-in wardrobes, replacing unsuitable handles
and repairing missing sections. The original wooden windows and walls across the apartment
were preserved in the dining room and bedrooms. In areas affected by moisture, safety or city
noise—the kitchen, bathrooms and living room—we installed new windows, along with electric
shutters where greater sound insulation was needed.
Where the old kitchen mosaic could not be saved, I chose distinctive Botticelli-inspired tiles that
brought art, colour and a Mediterranean spirit back into the home. We created an ensuite
bathroom by opening a wall and completely redesigned the main bathroom around one of my
most personal ideas: a private spa within the city.
Even a small, mysterious architectural relief above the main bathroom door was preserved. Its
faint female figure has been softened by decades of paint, and its original meaning is unknown.
I kept it because not every fragment of a home’s history needs to be fully explained in order to
be valued.
I have always loved water and the silence it creates in the mind. Sitting beneath running water
makes everything else disappear for a while. Because I never felt entirely comfortable in public
spas, I imagined a private place where guests could slow down, care for themselves and feel
completely at ease.
That connection with island life also became part of Ivélia. We chose organic aloe amenities,
and natural loofah. Supporting small producers matters to us; their products carry the same
authenticity and human care that we wanted the apartment to express.
A Home Furnished with Memory
Ivélia was not furnished from a catalogue. It was furnished through generations.
No single heirloom matters more than another. Together, these objects form a portrait of our
family—our memories, our roots and, ultimately, who we are.
Surrounded by pieces that had belonged to my family, I felt that the apartment was no longer
waiting. It was alive again. The balcony still offered the same sense of freedom within the chaos
of the city, and the view felt just as I remembered it.
In that moment, the past and the future met.
Why It Is Called Ivélia
The name Ivélia was created by bringing together the names of our daughters, Iviliana and
Aelia. It is a name that exists because of them—and a home we hope will one day become part
of their own story.
Together, we transformed a home inherited from the generations before us into something
that may one day belong to the generation after us.
Our travels taught us that a beautiful accommodation can still feel impersonal. Therefore, we
created the kind of place we had always hoped to find ourselves: generous, comfortable and
full of character. Every choice was made by asking what we would appreciate as guests—not
merely what was expected of us as hosts.
We hope those who stay at Ivélia will do more than visit Athens. We hope they will rest,
explore, slow down, surrender to the energy of the city and discover the quiet held within these
walls. Above all, we hope that, somewhere along the way, they will begin to love this home as
we do.