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THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE

The History of the House

A few words about the history of the house and its construction

I was at a psychoanalytic conference in Paris when, while I was serving myself a cup of coffee at the last break, a lady next to me noticed my name tag and exclaimed: You are from Crete! I travel there every summer for so many years, and I have always wondered, if I will ever meet a colleague from there! It was the Pentecost holiday in May, when the French language psychoanalysis conference takes place every year.

In the summer of the same year, on August, Roberta and Giovanni Levi came to Faneromeni village to visit us at my father's home. Roberta walked in immediately, while Giovanni waited on the street, smoking a cigar thoughtfully. I wondered if he was absorbed by thoughts that should not be interrupted, or if he politely waited for my invitation. When Roberta introduced us, she told me that Giovanni is a well-known historian that created a new approach in the field of history, the so-called “Microhistory”. One of his most famous books was “Inheriting Power: The Story of an Exorcist”. The book unravels the story of a man who lived in a specific period through a detailed study of archives retrieved from the Municipality, the church, notaries, etc.

The first thing Giovanni asked me was if my father fought in the Second World War. The answer was affirmative, and when I asked him what led him to ask this question, he said it was the layout of the house and the tiles of the room we were resting.

Indeed, the house my father built had some unique features. It was stone built, with 60cm thick walls, it had large windows and two of the rooms had patterned tiles. As my father was a farmer, the lower floor was a barn for animals and a storage room for tools, house supplies, wine and oil barrels etc.

His observation stirred my curiosity, as I remembered that my father, like almost everyone in the village, had grown up in different type of houses that characterized another era.

I still remember my childhood at grandmother's home (my grandfather had died) where she lived with her two daughters, Doxa and Georgia. It had a garden door and a tall wall, and behind it there was a small courtyard with a wood oven, used to bake break or food on special occasions. The house interior consisted of a room that was like a hallway, with a staircase leading to the bedroom upstairs, and a corridor used to transfer the animals to a large barn without windows to protect them from aspiring thieves. Next was the kitchen with the fireplace, a couch, a table, some shelves for the basics. The house had earthen floor and handmade doors.

Back then, school education lasted 4 years, and boys took full responsibility for the house economy & chores from the age of 10. They plowed, mowed, threshed; they harvested olives, worked in the olive mill, at the gardens, at the fields, etc. When they were old enough, they moved to an adjacent building, together with the animals, to guard them and feed them at night, as they did not have time to do this during the day. They usually slept on straw mattresses with handmade heavy blankets, which surely was not a very comfortable experience. As for beddings, they were rare to unknown at the time.

Girls also had many responsibilities from young age. Apart from cooking and housework, they were responsible for the small animals, such as hens and rabbits; they tended the gardens, helped in olive harvesting and agricultural work and mastered the art of embroidery, the loom etc.

For a long time, I wondered if it was the experience of the war and the long journey many Cretans had to do for the first time, which inspired my father to build such a large and modern home. It had large and distinct rooms, separate kitchen, bedroom, dining room and living room. It may have been the war and travelling to other places, but then I thought that the experience of school education might have been more important. In 1926-1930, when my father went to school, he belonged to the first generation that received official school education after the island was liberated from the Turkish occupation. For the first time, through the institution of education, parents trusted a "stranger", the teacher, to teach their children and educate them on subjects that went beyond traditional knowledge based on everyday agricultural routines. For the first time, young children had role models other than their parents, and the opportunity to expand their choices and develop their identities beyond univocal relationships within the family.

They learned arithmetic, reading, geography, history, writing, spelling, ect. For the first time, they acquired a different sense of the world and were able to imagine the place they lived as part of a larger one; but more importantly, they developed new standards and role models to strive towards a different future.

A large part of everyday life took place outside the house. Apart from work in the fields, the courtyard was a place for cooking with wood fire, especially during the months when the weather was good, almost 8 months a year, but also a place for social and family gatherings for food and company.

Many years later, my friends adored the same courtyard, filled with the scent of jasmine and the tangled branches of a huge vine that produced grapes in the summer, and, most importantly, generously provided a refreshing shade that protected us from the bright sun.

One of the first friends I made when I was a student was Michel Hallet-Eghayan, a choreographer from Lyon. To honor of our friendship, I gave his name in one of the apartments.

Francois Dimech, a sculptor from Paris and one of my last friends, had many ideas about the design and character of the house, so he is also entitled to see his name in one of the apartments, the one he influenced most.

All 4 apartments are named in honor of my European friends who love Greece, and Crete in particular. Giovanni, who especially appreciated the “European” side of the house, the living room with the Italian tiles. Roberta, who stayed in the house several times, and liked to stay awake until late to look at the stars in the sky. Michel, whom I’ve known for a very long time and has visited me numerous times, and who also had the chance to meet the homeowners; and Francois, a great friend and admirer of Greek culture.

This house, built by George Stephanoudakis to nest the family he created with his wife Maria, will henceforth serve as a place of hospitality that will bring people and cultures together and nurture friendships.