She got ancient hermit tower, cave & chapel for the price of a car

In the wild, stony hills of the Mani Peninsula—once home to pirates, hermits, and feuding clans— Elena Zervoudakis stumbled upon a ruin so isolated it could only be reached by foot, up a stone path carved into the mountainside. Her friends urged her to spend the money on something more sensible —like a vehicle— but Elena, though only a student, was enchanted.

She bought the 18th-century megalithic home for the price of a car and spent the next 15 years making plans for the remodel worthy of its surroundings; Maina House is a megalithic home nestled among a 16th-century defense tower and a Byzantine chapel adorned with 12th-century frescoes.

Fifteen years later, with no road access, electricity, or plumbing, she began restoring the ruin stone by stone. Every tile, every beam, every tool had to be carried by hand up the winding path. In response, she designed a minimalist, bioclimatic home, deeply rooted in both the landscape and the traditional ways of the region.

Over the decades, Elena’s dream evolved into a 3-level, 150-square-meter tower-house that flows with the mountain itself. It opens to a cave below via a trapdoor staircase, and pays tribute to its centuries-old past at every turn. There's also a cave in the side yard that's used for summer siestas.

Now a retreat shared with just two full-time residents of the tiny village, the home feels like a passage through time—a lived-in relic that whispers of monastic solitude, fierce independence, and the quiet luxury of living with only what one truly needs.