Stone Restoration in Corfu
Old walls rebuilt the way they were first laid, in lime, in stone, joint by joint.
Restoration is the careful repair and rebuilding of older Corfiot stone houses, Venetian-era walls, in particular, using the materials they were built with. We rake out failed cement, repoint in lime mortar, replace cracked stones with matched Sinies limestone, and rebuild what has slumped, so the wall reads as one continuous fabric rather than a patch.
Most of the damage we meet was done by good intentions. A house gets repointed in hard cement; the cement traps moisture inside the wall instead of letting it breathe, and the stone behind it begins to spall and the timbers to rot. The first move is almost always to take the cement back out. We rake the joints by hand, brush them clean, and repoint in lime mortar gauged to the wall, softer than the stone, vapour-open, the way it was meant to work. Lime breathes where cement seals; on a two-hundred-year-old wall that difference decides whether it lasts.
Where stones have failed or gone missing, we cut replacements from Sinies limestone, the same Pantokrator stone that has clad Corfu's Lodge of the Nobles, now the Town Hall, since the 1660s, and dress them to sit flush with their neighbours. Quoins are squared and reseated, lintels and relieving arches checked, the hearting behind the face packed tight again so the wall carries its load through its full thickness rather than on a thin skin. We repoint and rebuild Venetian-era walls this way, keeping the original stone wherever it can still do its work.
This is the same discipline that keeps Corfu Old Town standing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site: lime, matched stone, and the patience to do less. We work to conserve first and replace only what must be replaced, so the house keeps its age and its weathering. Our new-build stonework draws on the same hand, but restoration is its own craft, measured by how little of the old work you have to disturb.
Common questions
Should an old Corfu house be repointed in lime or cement?
Lime, without exception. Hard cement traps moisture inside an old wall, the stone behind it spalls and the timbers rot, so the first move on most jobs is raking the cement back out. We repoint in lime mortar gauged to the wall, softer than the stone and vapour-open, the way these houses were built to work.
Can you match the original stone on a Venetian-era wall?
Yes. Replacement stones are cut from Sinies limestone, the same Pantokrator stone that has clad Corfu's Lodge of the Nobles since the 1660s, and dressed by hand to sit flush with their weathered neighbours. The aim is a wall that reads as one continuous fabric, not a patch.
How much of an old stone wall do you replace during restoration?
As little as possible. We work conserve-first, keeping the original stone wherever it can still do its work and replacing only what has failed, so the house keeps its age and its weathering. Good restoration is measured by how little of the old work you have to disturb.
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