Almond Hill Villas (sample) is one hillside above the bay: four stone houses, each with its own pool and garden, and the two of us living in the farmhouse by the gate.
The hill was an almond and lemon farm until the 1990s (sample). The stone barns, the press house and the shepherd’s hut stood empty when we bought the land in 2008.
We turned each building into a house that faces its own way, dug a pool beside each one and kept as many of the old trees as we could. The lemons still go into the welcome basket.
The estate from above, north at the top. The yellow line is the sun on a mid-July day: up at 5:51 over the hill, south over the bay at midday, down at 20:39 behind the headland (sample). Each villa page shows when the sun is on its pool.
The hill faces south over the bay, so every house gets sun most of the day. What changes is when: the east side has the mornings, the west side the long evenings.
Tell us which part of the day you want to spend by the pool, and we suggest the house.
Houses
4, each with its own pool
Sleeps
20 in all
Sunrise in mid-July
5:51
Sunset in mid-July
20:39
Facts (sample).
We live in the farmhouse by the gate all year. One of us is on the phone from 8:00 to 21:00.
Arrivals, enquiries and the houses (sample)
Answers every stay enquiry herself, usually the same day.
Pools, gardens and the olive harvest (sample)
Checks the pools on Tuesdays and Fridays and knows every cove.
Changeover days (sample)
Gets the houses ready between ten and four on Saturdays.
Tell us the villa, the Saturday and how many of you. We reply within a day with the free weeks and the price; nothing is booked until you confirm (sample).