Touchstone House

Touchstone House sits on Andros, the northernmost of the larger Cycladic islands, greener and quieter than its better-known neighbours, with hiking trails, old stone dovecotes and quiet villages rather than a party scene. It's the kind of island where the pace is set by the walking paths and the weather rather than a beach club schedule, good for slow mornings and long, unhurried days.

The house was designed by the architect Elina Loukou, working with Melia Tataki on the interiors, and took shape between 2017 and 2019 before completing in 2020. Its defining feature, and the source of its name, is a huge outcrop of natural rock that the house is built directly around rather than around removed, the main suite arranged so the stone becomes part of the room itself, with a loft bedroom and bespoke couches that clasp together for extra sleeping space. A second suite, the lightest and airiest of the three, holds a double bedroom and a generous sleeper sofa, while the third began life as the property's original smokehouse and is now a vaulted stone studio, quiet and cocoon-like, looking out over the pool. Outside, tiered patios, an outdoor kitchen and gathering spaces around the pool are built for long communal meals. The whole property can be booked as one villa, or the three suites taken individually.