Before & After: Instead of Tearing Down a Crumbling Crete Villa, a Muralist Saved It

Steve O’Donnell revived the 142-year-old residence by tempering its ancient masonry with raw, contemporary details.

Nov 9, 2026 - 21:17
Before & After: Instead of Tearing Down a Crumbling Crete Villa, a Muralist Saved It

Steve O’Donnell revived the 142-year-old residence by tempering its ancient masonry with raw, contemporary details.

The living room of the Anasa House has a brown corduroy sofa with a concrete base made by a local supplier in Kissamos, Greece. It’s planted by a cast-concrete-and-mild-steel coffee table custom fabricated by Stone X Stone. The 1960s Gepo wall lamp was sourced from Cosmic Design.

When they first visited Crete in 2019, Steve O’Donnell and Kandy Kim were entranced by the Greek island’s rugged landscape. When the property manager of their Airbnb learned that Steve was a longtime mural artist, "her eyes lit up," he says. "She said she had been looking for someone to paint her other apartments for years."

It was a serendipitous moment that prompted the couple to plan another trip to Crete in the winter season. Although Steve’s professional opportunity unfortunately coincided with the unfurling pandemic, the six months he and Kandy were stranded on the island left a deep, soulful imprint they couldn’t ignore.

Before: Exterior

The 150-year-old villa in Aikirgiannis was crumbling, but Steve O'Donnell nonetheless saw its inner beauty, compounded by the dramatic backdrop of olive groves.

After: Exterior 

Set on a terraced hillside, Anasa House flaunts both original thick stone masonry that conveniently provides natural passive cooling and open-air ruins.

Set on a terraced hillside, Anasa House incorporates both open-air ruins and original thick stone masonry that provides passive cooling. 

Ortho Studio/Sotiris Zapantiotis

After they finally returned home to Ireland, their minds constantly wandered back to Crete. "We missed everything about it—the food, the people, the weather. Something was drawing us back," says Steve. Emboldened by the lure of Greece, Steve and Kandy dipped into their savings and bought a little home in a tiny, mountainous Cretan village. Steve plunged into renovation work, and he says it "awakened a love and passion for designing and restoring old, neglected, rural houses."

Before: Staircase

An outdoor staircase, a common feature in old Cretan village homes, was the only link between the ground and upper levels.

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