The 200 year old village is nestled within a beautiful, sun drenched olive grove with breathtaking coastal views. The luxury development of 16 private houses, are set within extensive wild flower gardens designed by Jennifer Gay and Dominic Skinner. The beautifully designed backdrop of the Rou Estate is also a winning feature to the project.
The Rou Estate enjoys stunning views reaching out over the sea towards Albania and Northern Greece and lies on an East West orientation with morning sun rising directly in the view over Albania.
Evening sun can be seen behind the village causing the view to change in character and colour. When within the village the view is a crucial part of the design, as the view and light is always changing throughout the day. Each principal room within the houses will have a direct relationship to this view.
The beautiful gardens have been designed by Jennifer Gay, an Athens based garden designer (of the Mediterranean Garden Society), and Dominic Skinner who mentions: “We designed the gardens, village/communal areas, and pathways as sympathetically as possible because we are fortunate enough to have the most extensive variety of wild flowers within the village.”
The gardens include a wildflower reserve, in which Jennifer planted samples of all the Greek wild flowers found at this altitude. Scattered randomly throughout the grounds are several quiet sitting areas for communal use.
When Jennifer and her team first saw the site, they immediately understood that they needed to capture the essence of the place, the magical beauty of the abandoned Rou, in the landscaping of the future. The combination of wild flowers with the old stone walls was exquisite and became the inspiration for the planting palette.
When deciding what to plant, long lists were made which were pared down until a final short list of what was called “Rou signature plants”. To make it on the list, plants had to pass several stress tests. They had to be native or quintessentially Mediterranean; they had to fit the character and colours of the locality both climatically and aesthetically; plants had to be drought-tolerant, but able to withstand winter cold; and some key plants needed to be summer flowering when visitors to Rou would be at their peak.
Perhaps just as beneficial is the combination of pure mountain air, the scent of herbs and shrubs, the sound of birdsong. The Rou Estate promises to be a haven of peace that will both soothe and inspire, a concept unlike anything else so far established in Corfu. It works its magic and allows the guests to leave, restored and renewed and ready to return to the rigours of modern life.
The beautiful gardens have been designed by Jennifer Gay, an Athens based garden designer (of the Mediterranean Garden Society), and Dominic Skinner who mentions: “We designed the gardens, village/communal areas, and pathways as sympathetically as possible because we are fortunate enough to have the most extensive variety of wild flowers within the village.”
The gardens include a wildflower reserve, in which Jennifer planted samples of all the Greek wild flowers found at this altitude. Scattered randomly throughout the grounds are several quiet sitting areas for communal use.
The remaining of the old Rou village which was abandoned in the 60’s, the houses, built of creamy honeyed stone some 200 years earlier, are reminiscent of an English Cotswold village.
When the restoration project started, they were in a state of beautiful disrepair and nature was slowly reclaiming the place that had once been a working hamlet. Trees and shrubs were intertwined with the tumbling stonewalls and wild flowers grew in fragrant abundance.
Until the workmen moved in – a mass of wild flowers had overgrown everything, birds and bees and reptiles lived here in splendid isolation. Careful restoration of the village, while doing nothing to harm the wild flowers, has unveiled old stone paths and wells, has freed fruit trees and old herb gardens from the prison of time. Twelve old houses have re-appeared, together with their village square and the numerous connecting pathways. Old, sun-warmed stone has been reworked, roof tiles and woodwork replaced. Master craftsmen have been recruited to show that the old skills are far from forgotten.
Apart from the massive task of excavating the houses there was also a large amount of landscaping that needed to be done. Pruning a wide variety of trees and establishing the old pathways was another important feature to the project.