About Villa Nicara

Villa Nicara has been our much-loved family home for the past 30 years.  It is a beautiful, traditional, white-washed villa, with old stone floors (from Pelion) and heavy wooden shutters, nestling in its own extensive, well-maintained, mature walled gardens and olive grove.

It was originally built by Jack and Nancy Causton, one of the first ex. pat. couples to settle on the island, in the days when all building materials were brought by caique from the mainland and then carried on the backs of mules  along the narrow donkey tracks (there were no roads then!) to the site. Nancy herself was an artist. She painted many beautiful watercolours of the wild flowers indigenous to the island and most collectible today are her beautiful pictoral maps of Skiathos, all hand-painted and embellished with her trademark flowers. Many of these still hang in the original villas and hotels built around that time (early 60’s). I like to think that she’s looking down on us with approval and is delighted to know that today her house is shared with artists from all over world and that they continue to enjoy the beautiful gardens she laid out so lovingly all those years ago.

When my family acquired the house, in the early ’70’s, Skiathos was  much quieter and less developed – the full impact of mass tourism hadn’t yet descended on the island -  and from Villa Nicara (or Villa Kolios as it was previously known) not a single other building could be seen! We had to wait 8 years for a telephone, it took that long for the telegraph poles to reach us!

Recently Villa Nicara has undergone major refurbishment and today, despite the development that has sprung up in all directions, upon entering and closing the high gates behind us, the same sense of peace, calm and privacy as yesteryear, still prevails.

ACCOMMODATION

Villa Nicara can offer  in-house accommodation with two newly-refurbished self-contained studio/guest rooms, each with en suite facilities:

There is also plenty of alternative suitable accommodation close-by and all  painting holiday guests (on or off site) have full use of the villa’s public areas and grounds including, close to the house, nestled in the adjoining olive grove,  a separate small but fully equipped

ARTIST’S STUDIO

and in the gardens, surrounded buy old stone walls and  walkways, the new

SWIMMING POOL and barbeque area

as well as the extensive mature gardens, on different levels, which surround the villa on all sides.

These are filled with mature trees (acacia, almond, lemon, eucalyptus, evia oak, plane, koumara, pine and palm) flowering shrubs such as buddleia, camelia, frangipani, pyracantha, and bamboo and climbers; jasmine, bougainvillea and fragrant roses.

Old stone walls and walkways,  softened by ancient oil jars filled with tumbling geraniums,  wind through the lush, mature gardens and ancient olive grove.

There are exposed paved terraces, complete with sun beds, for avid sun-worshippers and hidden, shaded corners for reading or just quiet contemplation and total relaxation.

Everywhere there are flowers in abundance; in informal flower beds, tumbling from ancient oil jars and in terracotta pots.

Most notable in the spring are the carpets of wildflowers that are allowed to run riot in the un-manicured grassy ‘lawns’ areas.