You Can Now Book a Stay at Patrick Leigh Fermor’s Famed Greek Hideaway
The urge to seek out a hero’s home is undoubtedly stronger if it sits amid an olive grove above the Mediterranean Sea. The house in Kardamyli, Greece that belonged to travel writer Patrick “Paddy” Joan Leigh Fermor and his wife drew a bohemian crowd of artists and intellectuals from the 1970s through the early '90s. And now, for the first time in 10 years, it is opening its door once more.
The Fermors designed the rambling home, inspired in part by Patrick’s travels. In his early twenties he walked from the Netherlands to Istanbul, falling in love with a Romanian princess, and one of the rooms is modeled after one of his favorite rooms in her family’s castle, with a Turkish-style fireplace and sofa.
The home was where he penned his famous books on his escapades, such as Mani and Roumeli, earning him admirers who would describe Paddy as a mix of “Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Graham Greene.”
His adventures were the stuff of Hemingway's dreams: During World War II, for example, he served as an agent in a Crete special operations unit and kidnapped a high-ranking German officer. It was during this time in Greece that he would fall in love with the island and ultimately choose to make it his home.
Of course Joan was no slouch either. She began studying photography and her so-called “snaps” were recently featured in an exhibition hosted at the Benaki Museum, which now operates and maintains their former home.
Appropriately, the home is crammed with books and quiet writing corners, but it is also perfect for entertaining and was the source of many marvelous parties. There are tales of late nights under the stars, fueled by plenty of Greek wine and a rock on the edge of the water dubbed “Geronimo” for jumping into the ocean. The home was a hub for the likes of royals and diplomats, writers and politicians, an informal salon on its own small island.
Though it has been closed since Patrick’s death in 2011 (Joan passed in 2003), it opens this month as a creative writer’s retreat, inviting a new generation of literary heroes to write, think, and, perhaps, let loose a bit. In the summer months (June through August), the whole property can be booked through Aria Hotels.
Plan a visit to glimpse a ghost of inspiration or at least a sunny corner to sit and live as he did, if only for a moment.
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