Pigadi

Built around the well the house drank from until 1968, and still the coolest room we have in August.

Pigadi faces the courtyard rather than the sea, which is why it costs less and why it is the room half our regulars ask for. The walls are the thickest in the house — closer to seventy centimetres than fifty — and it never goes above twenty-six degrees, whatever the island is doing.

The well is outside the door, covered, with a fig tree growing out of the wall beside it. Breakfast is usually taken there, in the shade, before anybody else is up.

• Double bed, linen from Naxos
• Courtyard, all-day shade
• Level with the courtyard, no steps
• Walk-in shower, no bath
• Air conditioning and a ceiling fan
• The coolest room in the house