A Former Marketplace - Now a Boutique Hotel
September 1, 2024 ... Lefkara, Cyprus is perched between olive groves and mountaintops overlooking the sea and rolling hills below. The village looks like a medieval fortress; houses interlocked to create a maze zigzagging along the mountainside. In the center of town stood the shell of a building that had been abandoned for over a decade, but the architectural bones were both appealing and solid. It also has history of being the central market or “Agora” of this mountain region, where people from the village and immediate surrounds would come to buy food and other goods. It was a sort of beating heart of society in the immediate region. The idea was to make it that once again - breathing new life into a space that deserved to be a welcoming place for sharing food, ideas and interests.
After a total renovation and restoration of the exceptional architectural elements of the building, The Agora hotel has emerged with 18 guest rooms, a Mediterranean inspired restaurant Novél, and The Bar - a sophisticated living room for locals and guests. The house has become exactly what co-owners Emilie Green Novél, and Aleksander Eng, General Manager wanted it to be. Emillie is credited and solely responsible for the design of the hotel in her role as Creative Director.
The Discovery
"I came here for a friend's wedding and immediately recognised the atmosphere as something truly authentic. I'm a cyclist, and so on my first morning, I woke up with the sun and went for a ride, and on my way back, I passed by the hotel, abandoned in the center of town," says Aleksander. "I immediately texted Emilie, my partner. From there, the ball just started rolling. I like to joke that the hotel life chose us, and not the other way around."
Design
Nestled in the old town of Lefkara one can enter from the outside of the building, through the lobby, and step directly into an open-air courtyard. Here you will find white pillars and marble floors with terracotta and white striped sunbeds surrounding a guava green terrazzo pool as the centerpiece.
The overall design is meant to express an easygoing warm feeling that makes you want to sit down and be as comfortable as you would on your own sofa. Inspiration has been taken from other places around the world, but the color palette reflects the natural beauty of the earth with terracotta and limestone along with the beauty of mediterranean dusty green plants such as sage and olive tree leaves found in Cyprus. The arches in the space and the wooden details of the house give a sense of an old-world feeling. The approach is a mid-century modern design inspired by different aesthetics drawn from travels around the globe.
There is solid oak flooring throughout the hotel from century old oak trees that are sustainably grown in Croatia. Some spaces have a herringbone pattern, while others are designed in a classic parquet style. The hotel also has indoor spaces with classic terracotta tiles to represent a country house kitchen.
"New York was the inspiration for The Bar as it was this memory of going back to the pleasant nights at dark jazzy cocktail bars with velvet furniture and old paintings on paneled walls which gave that old world feeling to it,” says Emilie. The room was brightened with a twist of colors from plants, fabrics, books, and pictures to make it loungey during the day, as well as night.
Restaurant Novél is a space created with the idea of Mediterranean homes with a big wooden table in the middle where everyone can gather around or where the ingredients of home cooked dishes would be prepared. Hanging copper pots and shelves with jars of pickled vegetables and terracotta tiles were all part of the vision – creating a simple way of gathering around something that is done every day - eating and sharing moments of indulgence and good conversations.
Guest Rooms and Comforts
The guest rooms are all made with the idea of harkening back in time. All have a touch of rattan and dark stained wood to bring out the beautiful aesthetics of the colonial style that is so beautiful in the way of using natural materials at that time.
Beds are from the renowned Swedish bed manufacturer Duxiana. “Together we personally tested an array of different pillows and duvets before going to a specialized factory in Europe to custom make exactly the bedding that we wanted. We were extremely specific on the exact amount of grams per cm2 of Goose Down and therefore also had to create our own private label bedding. Our bed fabrics are organic satin cotton from Portugal and our towels also thick organic cotton, also with our own label."
Fabrics on some of the custom-made furniture were selected and even customized to blend with the color palettes and concept of The Agora. The headboards in the Petite rooms are prints of chickens or horses as the Agora had a chicken coop and stables when it was a marketplace. These beautiful designs were created and printed by Madrid based Delacova Design.
To furnish the hotel and guest rooms, the mission was to find as many pieces of antique, vintage and retro items as possible from various shops, and with the help of a local he restored or reupholstered them. We found a few items in Athens and a few pieces from a Danish auction. Then sourcing expanded to different Danish brands – selecting a few top designer pieces and then personally developing some custom-built furniture. Hand-made brass sinks from Morocco - customized brass and glass lamps and shelf units from Athens - wooden built-in window nooks and panels made locally of oak and rattan in the study. Outdoor furniture is all teak and created to give a luxurious patio feel while still being very natural. Specially designed double sunbeds were created due to the limited space in the courtyard. In addition, the beds needed to transform into loungers at night, but it was key that during the daytime they sunbeds be extended to the pool edge to intentionally keep a couple connected while using the pool, but also be able to connect with others.
Many artifacts are gathered from local markets all over Europe as well as our private collection of books and accessories. “All of our own favorite accessories went into the hotel to make sure it was more authentic,” says Emilie. This underscores the idea that the comfortable surroundings can feel like the home of a well-traveled friend. Tradition Now is a local company dedicated to documenting and preserving cultural artifacts and supports local artisans to sustain cultural heritage from the island and they provided a series of accent pieces for the hotel. We chose a painting by Mette Greftegreff, a self-taught Norwegian painter whose works are dominated by a tapestry of abstract imagery and whimsical figures and works from Mark Maggiore. Finally, the restrooms are often forgotten, but they are beautiful with their handmade brass sinks from Morocco and the palm tree wallpaper with climbing monkeys.
The Village
The village of Lefkara has a history of hosting visitors – a once favorite spot of Venetian merchants and likes of Leonardo DaVinci, the town seems familiar with the influences of Italian and Greek, yet the village is singular in its aesthetic. It is a place steeped in history, and opening our doors to the world now, we hope to continue the tradition of the original Agora by providing a place where people can coalesce around food, conversation, music and laughter. “We have always loved connecting with people and creating an atmosphere where guests can really enjoy themselves, whether that be in our own home or through work and now we hope to accomplish that at The Agora as well,” says Novél.
The Agora, Timiou Stavrou 25, Pano Lefkara 7700, Cyprus, located 30 minutes from Larnaca Airport. Reservations: stay@theagorahotel.com Follow us on Instagram and Spotify
Media Contact: For further information, rates and high resolution images contact: KVD Communications - Kathleen Duda kathleen@kvdcom.com or Angela Nigoghossian an@kvdcom.com in New York City.