Inspired by the authentic Cycladic architecture and designed to feel like home, Anise & Ouzo is a pair of two cubic, minimalist houses, immersed in lush greenery. Living up to their Greek names, the houses consist of simple, authentic, and welcoming spaces that feel effortlessly designed and in harmony with the natural environment. Green, white and brown colors dominate this oasis, which stretches from the street to the sea while setting it in a balance of peace and tranquility. Rustic yet refined, equipped with the necessities when opting for a slow living, the two houses enjoy magical sunsets and magnificent views of the opposite island of Paros.
Shortly before the pandemic, the three friends, Michaela de Wagt and Jan Andres, who have been living on Naxos for years, and Remo Masala, who constantly commutes between Berlin and Naxos, bought the property on which the two houses were built 30 years ago. “The most important thing for us was to optimize the spaces of the two houses and at the same time intensify the feeling of living in an oasis”, says Dutch Interior Designer Michaela de Wagt. “It was important to us to design the rooms so that six guests can live generously per house, even if each house has hardly 100 built square meters. We have therefore visually extended the houses to the outside with the principle of indoor-outdoor living and gained another 100 sqm of outdoor living space per house. The generously sized doors and windows can be completely opened, and some of them can even be hidden in the wall, so this feeling is also reinforced by the architecture. Large mosquito nets replace the glass so that guests can take advantage of the constant, refreshing Meltemi wind in an environmentally friendly way. We designed most of the furniture ourselves and constructed it in an intensive collaboration with a local carpenter. This has taken us a considerable amount of time as we didn’t wish to compromise and needed every detail to be just right”, Michaela continues.
