Zweizimmerwohnung Troias, 24, Athena Ellada, 11257, Ano Kipseli - Evelpidon, Kipseli

Troias Apartment is a spacious old-world-glamour apartment on the third floor of a six-storey polykatoikia (apartment building) built in the 1950s. It was recently refurbished in collaboration with London-based architects, Royffe Flynn. The home has a beautiful big entrance with marble steps and mirrors and sits on a prominent corner location at the intersection of Troias and Drosopoulou. It consists of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, dining room and workspace or second living area. Light and air circulate through large french doors and three separate balconies. The traditional layout of the home has been retained, including the original 1950s kitchen, its cabinets, delicate joinery, and the compact functionality of a series of countertops at different heights. Marble is as central to the apartment’s interior as it is in Athens itself. The floors of the main rooms are made of a large-format terrazzo set within a series of rectangular, circular and semi- circular slabs of Kokkinarás marble mined 16 kms north-east of the city. The slabs were cut without waste, the offcuts broken up and used elsewhere in the apartment. Reclaimed pieces have been collected from the city’s many marble yards to make the sinks, steps and panelling. The apartment’s objects and furniture carry both local histories – of the designers and craftspeople of the many Greek items from the 1950-70s – and a wealth of international materials spanning the best part of the 20th century: Czech glass, Italian marble, Danish bamboo, Swiss leather and American lucite, velvet and brass. The apartment is a five-minute walk from Agiou Georgiou Square, well-known for its tavernas and local bars, and one of Athens’s largest public parks, Pedion tou Areos. It is within walking distance to the weekly Farmers Market, the Victoria metro station, and Kypseli’s busy and lovely tree-lined pedestrian square, Fokionos Negri, occupied by small cafés, restaurants, bars and shops.