The Merchant's House AirBnB Corfu

THE DOCTOR’S HOUSE

UPPER SUITE No. 1 [AirBnB Kitchen use of Kitchen only] &
'THE KATÓI'Breakfast Room

THE CARPENTERS HOUSE

UPPER SUITE No. 2 &
GARDEN SUITE No. 5

GABRILIES HOUSE

UPPER SUITE No. 3 &
DOUBLE ROOM with TWIN BED No. 6

This house is known in the village as 'The Doctor’s House'. It was rebuilt around 1850 and was last owned by Konstantinos Boletsis, a local doctor. His parents, Garitaos and Olga Boletsis used the upstairs part as a summerhouse. The upper room is closed, although you have full use of the kitchen.

The house consisted of 2 bedrooms and a sitting area with a ‘pagouli’, a low table with chairs. In the kitchen there used to be a large traditional oven for bread making . The chimney has been kept and instead of the bread oven there is now a fireplace.

The lower part of the house 'The Katói' was used for storage and for keeping livestock. The family had a small donkey with big ears called 'Goussi', a horse, a goat and some chickens. The room is now available for pre & after dinner drinks, rest and relaxation - and for rainy days when you can enjoy breakfast there.

The father of the last owner, Mr. Emilio Koutsouris, was a ‘ksilourgos’ (a carpenter) hence it now being known as ‘The Carpenters House’. His parents, Thanassis and Lefkothea Koutsouris used the upstairs part as a summerhouse.

The house consisted of 2 bedrooms, a sitting area, and a small kitchen, which was situated next to the house, to the right of the front door. Emilio’s grandfather was a farmer who used to spend the summer with his family in Old Perithia.

The lower part of the house (now suite no. 5) had an ‘argalios’, a weaving tool for making carpets from sheeps wool. During the summer the grandmothers and aunts would spend many afternoons here, spinning and weaving.

In the 1920s, Gabrieli was a well-known character in the village. The lower part of the house (now double room no. 6 with an ensuite bathroom) was both a grocery store and 'kafeneion.' The men of the village spent many hours there drinking wine, coffee or ouzo, chatting and playing backgammon or cards.

The local expression "go up the steps of Gabrieli" meant take the short cut via the steps to get to the top of the village. The steps can still be seen next to Gabriel’s Steps taverna and leading to our terrace.

Gabrieli had two daughters, one of which sold the house around 1980 to Evegenios Chirdaris, the previous owner of the house. The interior layout has been redesigned but some traditional features such as the old bread oven in the upper part of the house remain intact.