The Patrick & Joan Leigh Fermor House

Style

Raconteur’s rest

Setting

Memory-invoking Mani

Sir Patrick ‘Paddy’ Fermor was nothing so pedestrian as a ‘travel writer’, whether he was falling in love with Romanian princesses on Continent-wide treks, capturing German generals in World War II or swimming the Hellespont aged 69, he lived a life of Byronic poetry and Indiana Jones-worthy adventure. His fantastical Patrick & Joan Leigh Fermor House, in the Peloponnese – the only place he loved enough to stay tethered to for long – reflects his extraordinary life with its party-ready terraces, lavish libraries, and hoiked-from-his-travels design touches. It’s now part museum, part writer’s retreat, and – for just three months a year – a stay like no other, where you can follow his sensational path, with a little less waywardness.

Facilities

Rooms

Three residences with a total of five bedrooms (three in the Main House and one in each of the two guesthouses).

Checkout

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates usually include breakfast. Guests can only stay at the house for 90 days a year; during this time there’s a seven-night minimum stay, and you'll have to pay a €500 security deposit.

Also

It’s best to note that the Fermor’s bequeathment was to use the house to further the arts and nurture young creatives; its use as a hideaway is to fund these endeavours. So, in this spirit, the Benaki custodians still give the public access to the house in summer, on a guided tour at 11am on Monday mornings. You may even wish to join in to learn a little more about the house’s foibles. Say the cat pawprint mosaics inlaid in the sunset-watching pergola, a nod to Joan’s favourite animal, and the snake icons throughout the house, a nod to Patrick’s.

Hotel Closed

The house is open to guests in the summer months, from 1 June to 30 September.

Free Internet Access

Pet Friendly

Pool

Room Service

At the Hotel

Rocky beach, indoor and outdoor lounges. In rooms: Access to a shared pool, furnished alfresco terrace, library, artwork (some original), TVs, air-conditioning, free WiFi. The Traditional House has a kitchenette.

Our Favourite Rooms

Are you feeling gregarious? If so, book the Main House (or the whole estate), where the Fermor’s would often throw glamorous parties for the likes of Evelyn Waugh, Nancy Mitford, John Betjeman and – Fermor’s travel-writing mentee – Bruce Chatwin. It’s where they’d drink under the pergolas till the wee hours, taking long siesta the next day to ease the hangovers, and where Fermor would keep books to hand so he could jump up to answer any burning questions his guests had, if he wasn’t regaling them with poems and songs recited backwards in Hindustani or German. And, it’s a charming property, often dubbed the ‘most beautiful in Greece’. We’re not sure how his wife took the design choice, but the living room with its Moorish elements was inspired by the castle of a former Romanian princess paramour. We also rather like the scholarly cocoon that is the Traditional House, Fermor’s former writing room.

Poolside

The pool is one of the new additions to the house, which – according to locals who knew the Fermors – sea-loving Paddy would have hated. But, we were rather taken with it, enshrouded with trees and fragrant plants as it is; an elegant strip of blue at the coastal cliff edge, a little prelude to the even more saturated hue of the sea below. And there’s a line of loungers where you can lay and fall madly in love with all around you.

Packing Tips

Bookworms, no need to bulk up your bag with reading material or even download something new on the Kindle – this former writer’s house, which fledgling writers can retreat to to work on upcoming projects, has around 6,000 books crammed into every nook, in all three residences. These include Patrick Fermor’s lauded travel writings and the finished tomes of the house’s protégés.

Children

The privacy exclusive use affords means this is an excellent family stay, and little ones will thrill at the secret gardens and nooks and crannies to explore.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

The Guest House and Traditional House terraces are both scented with lavender and rosemary and are sheltered by cypress and olive trees, so they’re all set for romantic meals. Or take tea in the sea-facing pergola.

Dress Code

Go down the bohemian writer route and swan about in a kimono.

Hotel Restaurant

To complete the illusion that you’re the master (or mistress) of a Grecian manor, you call the shots when it comes to dining – just give the chef some advance warning and she’ll whip you up traditional Maniot meals or take requests if there’s something you’re jonesing. And you can dine pretty much anywhere.

Hotel Bar

As with dining, drinking arrangements are laissez faire. You could swirl a glass of Peloponnese red while worrying over a manuscript in the study, wistfully mull over a martini while standing on the rocky shore, clink Grecian beers over a card game on the terrace… Any alcohol-based scenario you can dream up.

Last Orders

A snack menu runs from 11am to 4pm, but otherwise dining times are as you wish.

Room Service

Of course you can dine in-room – it’s just like being at home, where the housekeeper will deliver meals from 8am to 10pm (with some notice). Yes, just like being at home.

Planes

Kalamata International is the closest travel hub, about an hour’s drive away along the coast. Flights arrive direct here from many major cities throughout Europe, though flights from further afield will need a connecting flight. Alternatively, Athens airport services a wider range of flights and it’s a do-able three-and-a-half-hour drive away.

Automobiles

Patrick Fermor fell wildly in love with Mani, a peninsula that crests out into the clear-as-day waters of the Messenian Gulf, when he hiked the length of it to Sparta in the north. But, the man had stamina – enough to swim round an islet off his private beach each morning till he was 94 – so you may prefer zipping from ancient ruin to secluded cove in a hire car. And it’ll make it easier to explore the other treasures sprinkled out across the wilds of the Peloponnese. There’s private parking onsite.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Fermor described living in Mani as ‘the feeling of being lost in time and geography with months and years hazily sparkling ahead in a prospect of inconjecturable magic’ – in short, he was besotted with the place, and we’d bet our last Euro you’ll be equally enamoured by the time you leave. There’s plenty to see on the peninsula alone, from the mysterious Alepotrypa cave at its southernmost tip (believed to be a gate to Hades due to its use as an ancient burial ground), to Sparta in the far north. First take a trip into charming local village Kardamyli where there are pebbly beaches you can kayak off and historic churches to explore. From the village you could follow in Fermor’s intrepid footsteps and hike to Sparta, but you may want to skip the 13-hour slog and instead exert your energy on climbing Mount Taygetus. From the top you’re privy to a breathtaking panorama and you can stop into the well-preserved Byzantine town of Mystras, built on the slopes, which is still occupied by a small religious community. The hotel can help to arrange bike hire or send you on a tasting tour across the region – expect Maniot favourites such as squash flowers, charcuterie and diples (the area’s take on doughnuts). Float under chandeliers of stalactites in the atmospheric Caves of Diros, or ask the hotel to book you a boat to sail out into the blue-green waters of Kardamyli and Stoupa bays. Back at the house, follow the winding steps that lead off from the main villa down to a rocky beach – while it’s a little hard to flop on, the crystalline waters are just right for a refreshing dip. There’s a large rock dubbed ‘Geronimo’ because guests were fond of leaping from it into the sea – do so with caution. For a sandy shore, head to Stoupa or Skoutari which has a trio of beaches to choose from. A day trip to Sparta is a must for its many archaeological intrigues (amphitheatres, monasteries, tombs), buff statues, gallery and traditional olive-oil factory. Or you could waft around the house as if you own it – with a tennis court close by, thousands of books to read and yoga lessons on request, you won’t get bored. Even just sitting on Joan’s mosaicked sunken outdoor lounge, glass of Assyrtiko in hand, is a very acceptable way to pass the time.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .