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Before Pelion Homes Collective became a place of retreats, shared meals, and community, it was a personal journey, shaped by architecture, crisis, uncertainty, and a deep longing for a different way of living. This is the story, written by Stathis, the founder, of how a few unfinished houses in the mountains of Pelion slowly transformed into a living collective rooted in nature, connection, and belonging.
The Story Behind Pelion Homes Collective
There was a time when my life was defined by drawings, deadlines, and the rhythm of the city.
For more than fifteen years, I worked as an architect in Athens, running a small practice focused on residential and hospitality projects. On paper, things were going well. I was designing beautiful spaces, building a career, and doing what I had been trained to do. Yet somewhere along the way, a quiet question began to surface:
Is this the life I truly want to live?
Six unfinished houses and an unexpected beginning
The answer didn’t arrive all at once. It arrived slowly, through crisis, uncertainty, and eventually, through the mountains of Pelion.
When the financial crises hit Greece, our family business was left with six unfinished houses on the mountain. Empty shells. No clear future. At first, they felt like a burden. But something inside me whispered that they could also be an invitation.
I began furnishing them slowly, one by one. Not as a grand hospitality project, I had neither the capital nor the experience, but as a small, personal experiment. In 2016, I started welcoming guests during the summer months. Families and friends from all over the world came to stay, and I showed them my Pelion: forest hikes, sailing in the Pagasitikos Gulf, wild foraging, long conversations about architecture, history, and the wisdom of rural life.
Without realizing it, I had begun building something far beyond accommodation.
When hosting became something deeper
In 2017, I hosted my first yoga retreat. Thirty people. I did everything myself, even cooking at home and carrying plates up to the villa. It was exhausting. I lost four kilos in three days. But it was also electrifying.
People didn’t just enjoy the retreat. They felt held, connected and nourished.
They asked me to do it again and again.
That’s when it became clear that this wasn’t a side project. It was the beginning of a different way of living and working, one rooted in connection, care, and shared experience.
I’m deeply grateful to the fairies of Yoga Science, who taught me so much, and still do, through their presence and devotion to the light and true spirit. And to their spiritual teacher Naya, for showing me the way to flourish and believe in myself with her loving and critical speech and teachings to me.
Choosing land over buildings
At the same time, we owned another piece of land in the village, an orchard filled with cherry and apple trees. It had originally been planned for more houses. But I chose a different path.
Instead of building more structures, I began caring for the land. Pruning neglected trees. Re-shaping the terrain. Imagining a space that could host nature-based and wellness retreats, communal meals, learning, and rest.
By 2019, I was already deeply involved in this transformation, even as I struggled in Athens, working endless hours and feeling increasingly disconnected from myself.
A moment of clarity
Then came Covid.
During the first lockdown, I found myself stranded in Pelion with my young son. The world felt fragile and uncertain. And yet, around us, nature carried on, blossoming, growing, breathing.
One sentence my father had once said came back to me with force:
“People will return and retreat to the mountains.”
In that moment, something shifted. I understood that I couldn’t go back to my old life. I closed my architectural practice in Athens and committed fully to what was unfolding here.
Friends and family joined us. We cooked together, worked the land, shared childcare, and lived simply. Despite everything happening globally, we felt resilient , even free.
That was when Pelion Homes truly became a collective.
Weaving passions into a living ecosystem
Over time, I realized that this path allowed me to weave together all the parts of myself.
My architectural background gave me the ability to hold the vision from a bird’s-eye view. My love for yoga and meditation, for cooking and long shared tables, for gardening, permaculture, and storytelling — all found their place here. So did my joy in meeting people from different cultures and sharing experiences shaped by travel and curiosity.
Instead of designing buildings and properties, I found myself orchestrating something more subtle and alive: an organic community. One that functions as a rural business, yes, but also as a strong magnetic hub, drawing people from around the world who are seeking connection, meaning, and belonging.
Pelion Homes Collective today and beyond
Today, Pelion Homes Collective hosts more than 20+ retreats each season. We welcome volunteers interested in permaculture, create farm-to-table food experiences, and bring together locals, visitors, facilitators, and creatives from around the world.But more than anything we create space.
Space to slow down.
Space to reconnect , with nature, with others, with yourself.
Space to remember what “home” can feel like.
Space for everyone to feel welcomed, in the core of the being.
This is not a finished story. It’s a living one and if Pelion has taught me anything, it’s this: when we listen closely to the land, to our bodies, to the quiet pull inside us, life has a way of leading us exactly where we need to be.
Forever Grateful
None of this could have happened without the people who held me and held this vision along the way.
First, my life partner Sandra, for her love, patience, and steady support.
My little boy, Orfea, who keeps inspiring me every day and reminds me what really matters.
My father, Dimitris, for the legacy he left me and for planting in me this deep love for this mountain.
My mum Maria, for spiritually and mentally supporting me, believing in me, and staying close even through the hardest moments.
Nicholas, who has been by my side for seven years now, following my crazy ideas and reinforcing them with his calm character.
Virginia, my yoga teacher and sister in life, for the years of mirroring each other through the good and the bad.
Asimina, who took on the most difficult role of all, reading my complex, chaotic mind, trying to decode it and bring it into an operational order.
Efsevios, grounding himself in this community and becoming a solid bedrock for its evolution.
I also want to thank Ali, my brother from Iran, who abandoned his job in the UK for two months and came to Pelion to help me cook and facilitate for the retreats that very first year, I will never forget that.
Finally, I want to thank every person who has passed through this space, as a guest, a friend, or a returning soul, and deposited their energy and love here.
In the end, I am only the gatekeeper. What we are all experiencing is a collective accumulation of energy, love, and respect for nature and for each other.
I am always grateful for this.
If this story resonated with you, we’d love to hear from you… feel free to get in touch with us and share your thoughts or ideas.
If you’re curious to experience Pelion in your own way, you’re warmly invited to join one of our nature-based retreats in Pelion, plan a slow-living getaway with friends or family, or simply join us for a shared farm-to-table dinner.
We’re always happy to co-create a personalized Pelion itinerary that fits your rhythm or welcome you exactly as you are.
This is my story. This is our story.
Love,
Stathis & Pelion Homes Collective
The post “Why We Chose Pelion” A Personal Story & Guide for Dreamers appeared first on Pelion Villas | Pelion Homes Greece.