The Mill in Pontikiana is the only renovated building in the original ‘Metdhi’, and is surrounded by now neglected stone buildings and rubble from a bygone day.
During renovation, the works involved stabilizing the original structure; construction of the rear ground floor terrace; construction of a reinforced concrete ring beam at eaves level (for earthquake protection); lining the original stone walls with pneumatically sprayed concrete; construction of a new roof; replacement of the timber Mezzanine floor; internal partitioning; plumbing and electrical installations; internal and external rendering; 2 nd Fix joinery (kitchen and wardrobes); and finally decorations.
The Mill is registered with the Greek National Tourist Organisation and has a current EOT License. The furniture in The Mill has all been purpose made in the simple traditional Cretan style, with carved wooden sofas and metal framed beds, and is included in the sale.
The property is set within 695,49 sq.m. of sloping land that has been beautifully landscaped. The extensive landscaping includes stone walls around the property boundaries, and the whole property has been re-constructed using the stones from the olive mill to ensure it maintains the traditional character of the area.
Interior Design
Historically, the rooms, on the rear Ground Floor, were used by the Venetians for the storage of olive oil for local consumption as food, a lubricant, soap and lamp fuel. On the Mezzanine floor, one room, with its own private terrace, offers stunning views of the Bay of Chania. All the beds are purpose made of traditional Cretan design, to comply with the requirements of the local Archaeological Dept.
Combining nostalgia and home comforts with a rural, secluded setting and panoramic sea views, The Mill can accommodate up to ten people. The Mill is accessed from the Ground Floor, where one enters a large open plan Living area containing two of the original stone arches.
The living area also accommodates a small office, Shower Room, TV and Utility Room complete with washing machine, tumble drier, iron and ironing board. This area also displays one of the original metal cork screw olive presses standing like a sculpture in which the olive ‘mulch’, or paste, was placed in rope sacks for its final ‘cold’ pressing.
A small flight of tiled steps leads down to a spacious dining area and kitchen. The dining area and kitchen are clustered around the original ‘four stone’ mill rollers which form the central feature of this area, and look and operate much as they did many years ago. This ‘four stone’ mill provides evidence that olive oil production at The Mill was on an ‘industrial’ scale, and not just for local consumption.
A hallway leads to two bedrooms, one to the left and the other to the right. Both bedrooms, which feature the original Venetian arches, have three single beds, and each room has its own private en-suite bathroom. One of these bedrooms originally housed two ‘settlement’ tanks, and the other large timber storage barrels. The ground floor hallway leads out to a Pergola covered terrace for outside dining with grapevines and a superb BBQ area.
Mezzanine
Timber stairs lead from the ground floor living area to the Mezzanine which consists of two additional bedrooms, one twin and one double, each with en-suite bathrooms.
Both these bedrooms have access to their own good size balcony with flowers and stunning views over the olive groves to the sea beyond. The twin bedroom was originally a store room for animal (donkey) feed, and the double bedroom (immediately above the mill stones), was the store room for the olives.
Exterior Spaces
On the north side of The Mill the Pergola covered terrace leads to a beautiful garden. The garden has a well maintained lawn, with trees, sun-loungers, parasols and flowers, and with its own automatic irrigation system.
A second feature stone stair leads down from the garden to the swimming pool area. The 9.5m x 5.0m pool has a tiled area all around and overlooks the olive groves of Pontikiana and the Aegean Sea. There is a small paddling area for infants located immediately above the pool plant room.
