House in Tinos occupies a renovated and extended residence of about 1200 sqft on the Greek island of Tinos, redesigned by Kelly Spanou with design collaborator Penny Alevizou. The building began as a keli, a modest rural structure typical of the island’s agricultural landscape, before a series of alterations turned it into a functional dwelling and buried much of its original material character behind plasterboard, false ceilings, partitions and applied finishes. An earlier renovation had also introduced a concrete structural system into the stone building.

Spanou’s first move was subtraction. Removing the applied layers exposed original stone masonry standing alongside the concrete slabs, columns and beams from later construction phases, and rather than resolving the contrast between old and new structure, both were left visible. Stripping the industrial floor finish uncovered a patchwork of concrete beneath it, with cracks and inconsistencies left intact as a record of the building’s use over time.

Material selection followed the same logic of retained evidence. Stone, concrete, marble and timber were chosen for how they feel underfoot and under hand as much as how they look, so the warmth of the wood and the roughness of the concrete sit against the cool smoothness of marble and the irregularity of stone. Reclaimed marble was cut for sinks, counters and floor details and treated as a working material rather than a decorative one.

The floor plan followed the building’s existing non-orthogonal geometry instead of straightening it. A monolithic kitchen island, combining concrete, stone and marble, sits at the center of the ground floor as an independent sculptural object detached from the surrounding walls, letting circulation move freely around it. That same logic carries outside, where new openings, terraces, stairs and paths follow the terrain’s slope, and a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen and planted areas organize movement across the site.