The Monk
You see the cobalt blue before anything else. Bold, almost startling against the pale stone of Patelo, the old quarter of Agia Marina. The colour was found during the restoration: one of three blues layered beneath decades of plaster, alongside ochre, terracotta, and white. In the Dodecanese, painting your house in vivid colour is tradition. This blue was the one they kept.
The Monk is a single traditional Lerian house, restored over five years by Prodromos Toufexis and architect Yiannis Zacharakis of a+ architects. The project began in 2020, inspired in part by the Greek text “The Asceticism of Love,” and that thread of monastic simplicity runs through every detail. Nothing is decorative for the sake of it. Everything has a reason to be there. It is the first of five properties they plan to restore across Leros: a growing collection of houses brought back to life with the same thinking: preserve the building, use what is already on site, and let the island do the rest.
Interior
Stone, linen, light. A house that remembers what it always was.
Step through the wooden door and the upper level opens into a single living space: open-plan kitchen and sitting area, stone walls left exposed, wooden details, handmade objects placed with care rather than effect. Light comes through traditional shutters in a way that changes the room across the day. A balcony with a round table and two chairs looks out over the rooftops toward the Panteli Castle and the old windmills. Morning coffee here, with that view, stays with you.
The bedroom is on the lower level, cooler and quieter. Linen sheets, 100% French-origin, and a pillow menu with four options: soft, firm, camel wool, buckwheat. The robes and pyjamas hanging in the room were designed for The Monk from the same linen by Greek brand bedding brand Kimisoo.
A reverse osmosis water system runs through the whole property, so even the water you shower in has been thought about. The proportions of the original house have been kept exactly as they were: the height of the ceilings, the width of the doorways, the way one room leads into another. The restoration used what was already here:— stone, wood, iron, and added only what was needed.
A small reception boutique sells pieces from The Monk Collection, all commissioned for the project. Handcrafted jewellery by Anna Rosa Moschouti, a Greek-Dutch designer whose work bridges architecture and metalwork, made in limited edition for The Monk. A signature linen scarf-bag designed by Yiannis Zacharakis. A bench inspired by the pyrgospita, the traditional tower-houses of Leros. Not afterthoughts. They
belong to the house.
Amenities
Air conditioning
TV
Wi-fi
Private courtyard
Balcony with table and chairs
Public parking nearby
Fridge
Oven
Kitchen utensils
Stove
Toaster
Coffee maker
Cooking essentials
Kettle
Washing machine
Iron
Hangersinen sheets
(100% French linen) ·
Linen robes and pyjamas ·
Pillow menu (4 types: soft, firm, camel wool, buckwheat)
Extra pillows and blankets
Hair dryer
L’Occitane amenities (refillable) Hair dryer
Reverse osmosis water filtration
Pets allowed upon request
The Monk Collection boutique on site
First aid kit
Highlights
Balcony with views to Panteli Castle and the Leros windmills
Interiors selected with care and respect to the original home and island’s tradition
Various outdoor areas for coffee, vistas, meals and lounging
Cobalt blue façade, discovered beneath decades of plaster during the restoration
Home truths
- This is a self-catering house, not a hotel. No breakfast, restaurant, pool, or concierge. You are the only guests.
- The house is traditional, with original proportions maintained throughout. It is spread across two levels with no lift.
- This home is spread across two floors, with no internal lift.