Stone Houses, Kept Correctly — Ayvalık & Cunda

RESTORATION

The problem nobody names

A nineteenth-century stone house was built to breathe. Lime mortar, lime plaster, timber floors and a wall system that absorbs moisture and releases it.

Modern practice does the opposite. Cement render, waterproof paint, chemical sealant and injected damp-proofing all trap water inside a wall designed to let it out. The result is not visible for two or three years, and then it appears as rot in the timber, salt bloom in the plaster and failure at the base of the wall.

This is the single most consequential thing we hold the line on here. The correct materials cost more, take longer, and are the reason the house is still standing after a hundred and fifty years.

CONSERVATION

What registration actually requires

Much of the building stock is registered. Facades, joinery, roof form, colour and street elevation are governed, and permits are required for interventions that would be routine elsewhere.

Unpermitted work is not a contractor’s problem. The liability attaches to the property and passes to the owner.

We plan around this rather than discovering it — which also means routine maintenance is scheduled so it does not accidentally cross into permitted-work territory.

THE LAND

The grove is an operating asset

Many houses here come with olive groves, and a grove is an operating asset rather than a garden. Pruning cycles, harvest arrangements, irrigation where it exists, tree health and the contractual relationship with whoever works the land all need the same discipline as the house.

Left unmanaged, a grove degrades quietly and expensively. Managed properly, it holds value and, in a good year, produces something worth having.

MAINTENANCE

What the fabric needs

Salt and humidity here are less aggressive than on the Bodrum coast, but the fabric is older and less forgiving.

Timber floors and structural timber inspected on their own cycle. Roof and gutter condition checked before winter rather than after. Damp monitored at the wall base. Heating and electrical installations in historic buildings held to a fire-conscious standard — in a stone shell with a timber interior, this is not a formality.

VENDORS

A small and uneven market

The trade base here is small and largely boutique. Two or three genuinely capable restoration teams, a handful of good craftsmen, and a wider market that will say yes to work it should decline.

We hold the distinction, define the scope in writing, verify before acceptance, and take no commission.

COVERAGE

Where we work

Cunda (Alibey) · Ayvalık centre · Sarımsaklı · Altınova · Küçükköy

Liquid Gold: The Aegean Through Olive Oil

Part of villa management in Türkiye.