Strovolos

Address: Megalou Alexandrou 21

1st historical phase:

The building was constructed around 1920 (in 1925 according to DLS ) and in its original typology was a characteristic example of a traditional ground floor house of the historic core of Strovolos. It has been used as a house through all of its lifetime and it is occupied today.
It consisted of the three basic rooms -hall, dining room and bedroom- and two auxiliary rooms -kitchen and bathroom. Its main façade is located along the street border while the main entrance leads directly to the central room -the sun hall- where doors on both sides give access to the other rooms.
The building is built partly from local sandstone and partly from adobe. The roof is duo pitched and consists of timber beams and roman tiles.
The house is built on a neo-classical style, with influences from rural Cypriot architecture.
An interesting element of the building is the carved stone frame of the entrance door with its wrought iron skylight. In addition, at the cellar room there are roof beams made of original tree trunks.

2nd historical phase:

At some point, between its construction date and 2005, a number of interventions took place that corrupted the character of the building. In particular, the roof tiles were replaced by asbestos sheets, the original flooring and the window sills were replaced by mosaic and cement plaster was added at the walls.
The DLS portal mentions a renovation in 1994 which describes as ‘full’, for which there is no details at all at the Municipality file. It could be a system error or it could refer to the aforementioned renovation.
The house was included in the catalogue of listed buildings in 2004.

3rd historical phase:

It was renovated in 2007. The renovation included a restoration of the existing structure as well as an addition of a two-story extension to accommodate two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
This renovation included, among others:
• Repair, cleaning, maintenance and completion of the external masonry and restoration to its original form
• Removal of all incompatible plasters from exposed stone masonry and reconstruction of completely existing traditional coatings (of plaster-straw type)
• Demolition of subsequently added elements such as the bathroom and the wall under the arc
• Removal of the asbestos roof and reconstruction of the roof to its original form and at the correct elevation.
• Repair of the entrance gate and of the carved stone portal
• Demolition of a part of the old masonry:
o between the proposed kitchen and the dual-chamber
o to create blind shallow frames
• Addition of a fireplace
• Construction of an additional two-story building, to house two bedrooms and two bathrooms, at the west side of the plot so that the two buildings together form an ‘L’ shape. The building is made out of a metal structure and light concrete blocks.
• Lengthening of the façade windows to preserve the original traditional proportions
• Lengthening and widening of the doors at the south side to increase natural lighting
• Addition of sunshades in the yard
• Addition of paving at the yard

Agiou Georgiou 40

It is a single-storey building made of stone and adobe. The roof is duo pitched and consists of timber beams and roman tiles. A part of it is two-storey.
The building is a typical example of traditional folk architecture (farm-house) organised along the free space. Its value is very significant because it is one of the very few (if not the only one) of this type in the historic core of Strovolos. It was constructed at the end of the 19th century (probably in the 1890’s, or in 1910 according to DLS).
The building has arches, a sun hall and two upstairs rooms. The sun hall acts as a transitional zone from the outside to the inside. The rooms are organised around the sun hall. A concrete staircase exists along the volume, that leads upstairs, through a timber balcony.
The building has an active relationship with the outside space while the sun hall with its arch create a shady cool space. The openings are made of wooden elements.
It was included in the catalogue of listed buildings in 1993 and is abandoned today.
In 2012, a building permit was issued according to which the building would be maintained and restored and some additions would be made in order for it to be used as a cultural centre. The permit was never executed, probably because of the financial struggle of the Municipality.
In February 2020, the owners asked again from the Municipality to undertake the renovation of the building in order to be reused to for cultural reasons or to cover some municipality’s needs (e.g. as a museum or air-conditioned/heated space or guesthouse).

Address: Dimitras 1 & Stadiou

The building is a corner single-strorey house that was erected around 1910, according to DLS. It is an example of urban vernacular architecture with neoclassical elements and it is considered to have an outstanding architectural value.
Its load bearing construction is made of stonework, coated with gravels, while adobe was used for the walls. On the façade, columns and beams are visible. Its hipped roof consists of a timber structure covered with byzantine-type tiles. The cornice is made of carved stone. The windows have movable blinds while the door has an ironwork and a skylight. The frames of the entrance door and the main façade windows are also made of carved stone.
The most interesting elements of the building are its covered veranda with a series of columns on both sides of the main face to the street and the stone carved façade, as well as the painted tiles on the exterior and interior floors.
The house consists of two verandas, a sitting room, five rooms, a hallway, a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet, a garage and a yard with trees. The central interior sun room leads to the veranda on the backside.
In 1998, the four sandstone façade columns were demolished and concrete columns coated with stone were erected in their place. The stone surrounding wall was also demolished and replaced with an enclosure made of metal wire. These alterations were part of converting the house into the seat of an association.
The building was returned to its original residential use some time in the years to follow.
It has been recently included in the catalogue of listed buildings.

Address: Prodromou 10 & Megalou Alexandrou

The building was constructed in the interwar period (in 1934, according to DLS). It was originally used as a residence and consisted of a hall, five rooms, a cellar, a small cooking area, a sanitary space, two verandas a laundry room and a covered area in the yard.
External and internal walls are made of adobe, the load bearing structure is made of stone and the roof is made of wood and tiles.
The property is a listed building since 1992.
Around 2000, the building was renovated and its use was changed to offices. Τhe renovation consisted of a general maintenance of the building as well as internal and external conversions that included changes in floors, walls, roofs and frames.
The exterior stone walls were cleaned, repaired, maintained and completed and then, restored to their original form. New interior and exterior plaster coatings were constructed. The floors, frames and other morphological elements were maintained and restored according to the standards of traditional architecture.
In the interior, a part of the existing traditional masonry wall on the northeast auxiliary wing was demolished and a new wall was constructed to create kitchen, bathroom and shower areas.
Roof works included the reconstruction and modification of the roof on the east-rear part of the main building and on the northeast wing. During this process, the original tiles were removed and only the non-damaged ones were put back along with new tiled similar to the original.
On the southeast auxiliary building, the small external room was demolished and, on its place, a new shower room was constructed.
Other exterior works included the construction of new steps at the entrance of the building, the modification of external openings to the plot’s yard and the widening of the existing opening of the plot’s surrounding wall
In 2009 the use of the building was changed once more, becoming a private language school.

Address: Korsikis 5

The building was constructed in 1930, according to DLS, although it is probably oldest since the date 1920 appears on the metal decoration of the skylight above the main entrance door.
The property, originally a residence, is a ground floor building with its eastern part having two storeys. The main north and the west façade are on the road border. The ground floor includes a central sun-room, four rooms, a cooking area and a toilet while on the floor there is an additional room which is accessed via an internal wooden stairway on the east room. The four square-shaped rooms on both sides of the sun room have been, at some time, merged into two larger rectangular rooms.
The building’s walls are made of adobe on a 50 cm stone base, covered with plaster. The floor room has access to a wooden uncovered balcony, on the back yard, originally supported on timber poles. There is a marble floor on the ground floor and a plank floor on the first floor. On the gable roofs there are venetian tiles.
Peculiar elements of the building are the interventions of different periods and the stone decorative details on some features. The main entrance has a geometrical carved frame of Limassol stone , a double door and a skylight with handmade metal decoration. The pointed arc on the other end of the sun room is built of the same hard stone.
During the years some interventions changed the traditional character of the building. The arch was closed, the balcony was supported on horizontal beams and most of the window frames were changed.
It was included in the catalogue of listed buildings in 2003 because of its exceptional architecture value.
In 2007 there was a renovation and a partial change of use so that the building also includes an art workshop for painting and sculpturing on the ground floor.
This renovation concerned the cleaning, repair, maintenance and competition of the external and internal adobe masonry and restoration to its original form, repair and reconstruction of the existing traditional coatings and construction of new plasterboard interior walls on the floor. The existing roofs were also repaired and restored as they originally were with timber beams and tiles. Additionally, the frames, doors and other morphological elements were maintained and restored to their original condition and according the traditional standards of the period and the Strovolos area. Finally, all the facades were restored .

Address: Stadiou 26

The property is a two-storey house that was built in 1940, according to DLS.
The walls of the house originally included parts of visible masonry, carved stone and adobe. At some point, in order to complete or replace the roof, concrete columns and slabs were built. In addition, a toilet was added at the exterior space. The roofing system consists of wooden beams and venetian tiles. The floors are made of wooden planks in some rooms and of painted tiles in others.
The building was included in the catalogue of listed buildings in 1992.
The house was renovated around 2004 in order to improve its functionality and the comfort of its users, while at the same time maintaining the traditional character of the building by refitting and highlighting its elements that were worn down or neglected through the years.
The works included a small extension of the kitchen, conversions in the interior and creation of sanitary spaces on the ground floor and first floor. To realise these, new interior walls were constructed while a part of the interior traditional masonry on the first floor was demolished to create a passage from the sun room to the bedroom.
The stone masonry, the adobe and the visible stone were restored while the traditionally coated surfaces, were repaired and coated again. On the interior surfaces, gypsum coatings were applied and, on the exterior, lime coatings.
The roof was rebuilt on a similar way to the original while the cornices as well as the horizontal and vertical gutter on the façade were also reconstructed. The frames of the door and windows were restored.
The authentic colourings on walls and doors were revealed and repeated. In addition, for the newly created spaces, colours that match the ones in the original spaces were used.
All the wooden board floors were replaced with new ones and the painted tiles were removed, repaired and cleaned, and placed back on their original positions.

Address: Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 81 & Agiasmatos

The building, originally used as a house, is a single-floor stone structure with a hip tile roof. The building material is local sandstone while the roof is made of timber beams and french tiles.
It was built in 1906. On the ironwork above the front door, 1909 is mentioned as the date of construction (it was constructed in 1910 according to DLS). It is of neoclassical style.
Its corner location in relation to the main street and the Chryseleousa church creates a continuous view of its two main facades. The continuity of the same surface on both sides is highlighted by the equal distance of the openings from the corner and from the special configuration of the corner itself.
The front side is emphasized by additional decorations inserted in the openings’ frames and the entrance. Apart from the neoclassical elements, there are also some Venetian remains in the elongated openings on both sides of the entrance. The entrance itself has an arched end with pilasters defining its two sides.
Particular importance is given to the verticality, especially around the entrance with false columns as well as in the various openings. The horizontal lines are accentuated at the base and the top of the building where they turn and continue to the other side.
The main building is accompanied by three auxiliary buildings, one of which is attached to it and can be seen from the street. Those buildings are made from adobe.
The building is part of a group of 46 Strovolos buildings that were included in the catalogue of listed buildings in 1992.
The building is today used as a pottery workshop.

Address: Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 93

The building is a single-storey house built in the interwar period (in 1920, according to DLS; in 1930, according to other sources) and is of neoclassical style. It is considered a remarkable example of that period’s architecture, with simple decorative details.
It is constructed partly from local sandstone and partly from adobe. Its hipped roof is composed of timber beams and roman tiles. The location of the structure at the end of the plot creates a garden that separates it from the street.
A semi-outdoor space is formed at the front façade, which is defined by the plastered interior surfaces and the simplified columns. The layout of the columns unites the whole building.
Interesting elements of the building are the impressive wooden construction of the entrance door with the wood-lined recess, the stone frames of the opening, as well as the garden with the vine arbour above the path to the entrance.
The house is included in the catalogue of listed buildings.
In 2013, the owners requested to given tax exemptions but their request was declined because, in an inspection from the Department of House Planning and Housing, it was revealed that the building lacks of proper maintenance.
The building is today occasionally used.

Address: Patmou 12

The house is located on the north edge of the Strovolos historic core. The building dates back to the period of 1935-1940. It was built in 1937, according to DLS.
It is of neoclassical style and has the main features of the vernacular buildings of its time such as visible stone carved elements in the masonry, floors with painted cement tiles, traditional-looking windows and a tile roof with a hipped timber structure. On the exterior, the yard has a surrounding stone wall while there is also a well with a metal pump. At the south-east side there is a veranda with a carved stone peristyle.
The typology of internal spaces is the typical for neoclassical buildings – central sun room, surrounding rooms, and kitchen and sanitary facilities on the north side.
Carved stone is the dominant material of the house. It is visible at the frames of the openings, at the base, top and corners of the building, at the parapets and at the columns of the veranda. Most of the walls are coated with gravel stone, while on the interior there are some thin wooden walls.
The roof is tiled with venetian tiles and wooden finishing. The gutter is of traditional form. The interior ceilings are made of plaster using the ‘bagdati’ or ‘wattle and daub’ technique.
The exterior doors have shutters while the northern one is a plank door. The interior doors are the typical for the period, with shutter, glass and partitions. The windows have blinds and interior frames.
At the floors of the veranda and some interior spaces, there are painted 20x20 cm cement tiles. In the bedrooms, there is wooden plank floor while in the auxiliary spaces, there are single-coloured cement tiles and continuous cement.
The exterior space of the property remains intact. There is an eastern stone-paved path a well with a traditional metallic water pumping mechanism, a southern stone wall with columns and railing. Also, the original vegetation is preserved, that includes a very large old pine tree as well as other endemic trees and plants.
A number of alterations have been made to the building, which are all reversible. In particular, the interior ceilings have been covered with a new ceiling made of acoustic tiles, some floors have been covered with plastic flooring and a northern door has been replaced with an aluminium one.
The owner of the house has asked, in 2019, for it to be included in the catalogue of listed buildings.

Address: Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 19A

The building is a single-storey mixed stone and adobe structure with a tiled roof. It was built in 1922.
The façade is entirely made of local sandstone while the side (and back) walls are made of adobe sitting on a stone base. The use of stone only on the facade makes this surface independent from the rest of the building and creates the background for the deep recess of the entrance area, which is the heart of the building.
This is a typical example of urban residence of simplified neoclassical style. The façade, and the rest of the building to a lesser extent, is expressed through neoclassical elements such as pilasters that define the vertical openings and the corners, stone cornices, etc. Details of Venetian architecture can also be seen in the decoration of the openings in the recess. The wall separating the building from the street follows the same logic with the pillars defining the openings, and the stone wall creating a base for the metal railings.
The building’s roof is made of timber beams and roman tiles.
In the backyard of the house there used to be an olive mill of new technology, for its time. At its location, a modern building was built in 1955 (date according to DLS).
The building is an integral part of a group of remarkable buildings in the historic core of Strovolos and, as such, it was included in the catalogue of listed building in 1992.
In 2015, the owners requested for a permit to immediately support and repair the roof of the building due to serious structural issues. The request was approved by the DTPH.