The Cove Houses
Five Residences by the Sea
Private
Residential
598 m2
Nafpaktos, Greece
December 2025
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The Cove Houses is a collection of five residences set within a long, narrow coastal plot in Nafpaktos, Greece. The project is shaped by the distinctive geometry of the site, where the sea meets its short edge and the land extends deep inland. Rather than developing the residences as a continuous row along the waterfront, the proposal unfolds them sequentially along the length of the plot. The first house occupies the coastal edge, while the remaining four are arranged behind it, creating a gradual transition from the openness of the sea towards the more intimate character of the landscape.
The landscape strategy reinforces this sequence, transforming the space between the residences into a series of planted thresholds, private gardens and shared moments of openness. Vegetation is used to frame views, define boundaries and provide privacy, while allowing the natural character of the site to gradually extend between and around the houses. The landscape becomes a connective layer, softening the linearity of the built form and creating a continuous relationship between architecture and nature.
Each residence is conceived as an individual dwelling, while the five houses form a cohesive architectural ensemble. Their arrangement creates a sequence of private outdoor spaces, framed views and moments of connection between the houses, the landscape and the sea. The architecture seeks to balance privacy and openness, allowing each residence to maintain its own identity while participating in a larger spatial composition. The result is a quiet coastal settlement that grows out of the geometry of the site, where architecture and landscape unfold together from the sea towards the depth of the land.
The architectural language of the houses draws inspiration from the character of the surrounding residential fabric, engaging with the familiar typologies and informal aesthetic of a typical Greek provincial suburb. Rather than seeking to contrast sharply with its context, the project adopts a familiar architectural vocabulary, reinterpreting it through a more cohesive and considered approach. By bringing together five individual residences under a shared architectural language, The Cove Houses introduces a sense of unity and continuity that is often absent from the fragmented suburban landscape, while allowing each house to retain its own identity.
