Living on Lesbos

by Steenie Harvey

I'm not making assumptions about her. And I hope she's not making any about me. But Joanna has just given me a red carnation and said I'm her "date" for the day. Female real estate agents don't usually treat me to flower offerings. Then again, I've not visited the Greek island of Lesbos before or its summer haven of Skala Eressos.

Along with running Sappho Estate (www.sapphoestate.com), Joanna Savva also owns Sappho Travel and helps with the September Women's Festival. This two-week event is billed as being for all women--not a lesbian-only shindig--but you can expect a strong gay attendance.

Lesbos is Greece's third largest island, but public transport is dire. In September, only one daily bus goes from Skala Eressos to the main town of Mytilini-at 6:15 a.m. Despite Greece being the wrong side of the road for me, I'm renting a car for 35 euro a day. It took three hours to drive some 55 miles across the mountains to Skala Eressos. Roads are terrifying, but it beats paying some taxi shark nearly 70 euro ($100).

With deep cherry-red shutters-blue isn't the traditional color here-Eressos has some lovely restored stone houses. Greeks tend to cover old stonework with ugly plaster, but seeing what foreigners have done, more locals are returning to the traditional look.

One restored stone village house (70m² or 753 square feet) with wooden ceilings and bijou guest cottage in its courtyard is 125,000 euro. In these parts, the starting figure for small stone houses that need fixing up is around 70,000 euro (budget roughly 65,000 euro for renovation). Plots of 1,800m² within a village boundary start at 45,000 euro; building costs around 800 euro/square meter.

At the other end of the scale, a 5,000m² property in the Eressos countryside with olive trees and three restored buildings-main house, "bohemian" house, and artist's studio-is 450,000 euro. Big price, but it offers all kinds of tourist potential.

Border zone means more paperwork

Outside village boundaries, building a home requires at least a 4,000m² plot. Two UK women are now selling their immaculate village home for 250,000 euro and are planning to build their own home. Co-owner Amanda spoke of some scary moments after their architect told them an archaeological survey was needed. It sounds wonderful to live in a richly historic area, but expect lengthy delays if artifacts are found. They were lucky: none turned up.

Non-EU citizens can also expect extra bureaucracy. Due to its proximity to Turkey, Lesbos is classed as a border zone. Americans and others need special permission from the Greek Defense Ministry to buy. Joanna says obtaining it takes around six months.

Three other things I've learned today:
1. Should you acquire a Greek island mother-in-law, she'll insist on accompanying you on house-buying expeditions. Any surviving Grannies will come too.
2. If you have a husband or male partner, buy a cheap sofa. All Greek wives do. It's for the man to lie on while he's watching TV.
3. Planting both a fig and a pomegranate tree invites good fortune.

P.S. Joanna is Greek, so for some expats she's a lifeline. She told me, "One woman came to me in tears because an angry farmer said her dog had killed three of his chickens. He wanted 60 euro compensation. I told him he could buy 60 chickens for that!"