Eumelia

from €236 / night

Free cancellation · 14 days

← Greece

BiodynamicFarm StayLaconia

Eumelia

A thousand olive trees on red clay, half an hour above Sparta.

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LocationGouves, Laconia, Greece

SettingWorking biodynamic farm

StyleFour houses

OpenYear round

Pricefrom €236 / night

An organic farm and guesthouse in Laconia. An olive grove worked by the same family since the 1890s, left to go wild, and farmed again — now with four houses for people who come to eat, harvest and slow down.

The place

An olive grove on red clay,
half an hour above Sparta.
A farm that stopped, and was started again.

Frangiskos came back in the early 2000s to settle the title to his family's land, and expected to stay a season. His great-grandfather had worked the same olive trees. By the time it reached him the grove was overgrown and the buildings half-ruined, and the sensible thing was to sign and go.

He stayed. He took a permaculture diploma and spent years learning what the ground would and wouldn't do — which slopes held water, which trees were worth saving. Marilena came later, on a study tour for a sustainable tourism project she was running; she meant to be there a week. She fell for the place and the man rebuilding it, left Athens, and stayed too.

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What's included

Breakfast to your door

Farm tour with Frangiskos

Olive oil tasting

Private garden & veranda

Geothermal heating

WiFi

Step inside

Four houses

Working biodynamic farm

Gouves, Laconia, Greece

Frangiskos & Marilena

Founders · Gouves, Laconia

Meet the hosts

Frangiskos and Marilena. He left a career in European institutions to farm his family's land. She came for a week's fieldwork and stayed.

He runs the grove and the pressing, and walks you through the trees himself. Marilena is a sommelier who commands the kitchen — preparing a long farm-to-table dinner each evening from whatever the garden has given that day, paired with the farm's own wine, poured glass by glass. She'll show you how to recognise the flavours and nuances in their olive oil, then put you at the counter for a cooking class. Tell them what you want from the week — harvest, kitchen, wine, or nothing at all — and they'll build it around you.

"The best way to give people a sense of how we live is to bring them into the farm."

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What you'll find

The oldest tree on the farm

A thousand olive trees, and at the centre one the family reckons at over two thousand years old — older than the road to Sparta, still throwing out leaves. The oil is pressed from three varieties grown together: Myrtolia, Koroneiki, Agrelia.

Marilena's table

Dinner is whatever the week gave — dandelion greens, fava, sausages run through with orange peel, bread, the farm's own oil. Poured alongside are the wines made here, from five Greek grapes picked by hand and stomped by foot. Meals are long, shared, usually outside.

Hands in the work

Olives off the branch in autumn, grapes underfoot at the vintage, cooking classes, walks through the groves with Frangiskos. The harvest retreat runs in waves across the season — picking, pressing, cooking, soap-making. Each is an invitation to discover a different part of life on the farm, at your own pace.

Four bioclimatic houses

Grape Vine, Lavender, Almond Tree, Sunflower. Each with a fireplace, a private garden and a veranda facing the mountains. Ochre walls in natural plaster, raw timber, geothermal heat under the floors in winter. The shared building, the Womb Lounge, has an open fire, a small library and a terrace where dinner is served.

Guest words

"We had a wonderful visit to Eumelia. Such a hospitable family. A great chance to enjoy tasting olive oil and wine along with an opportunity to learn more about greek cooking."

— A recent guest

Reserve your stay

Book Eumelia.

Four houses on a working farm. Experience Laconia like never before.

From€236/ night

Final price depends on your dates and house · 2 night minimum · Free cancellation 14 days prior

What's included

Breakfast to your doorFarm tour with FrangiskosOlive oil tastingPrivate garden & verandaGeothermal heatingWiFi

Note from Solwyn

Time goes differently here. Meals run long, the days lose their edges, and the loudest thing most nights is the cicadas. Come for a week and forget which day it is.

August 2026

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Guests

2 guests

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Instant confirmation · Free cancellation 14 days prior

May–September usually books out weeks ahead

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Getting there

Finding Eumelia.

Gouves, in the Laconian hills between Parnonas and Taygetos. Sparta is half an hour, Monemvasía and the Mani around an hour and a half. You'll want a car — the farm sits above the village and there's nothing within walking distance, which is largely the point.

Address: Gouves, Laconia 23055, Greece.. Transfer and airport details to be confirmed with the host.

Laconia · Greece

Good to know

Before you book.

Check in from 2pm to 10pm, check out by noon. Need to arrive or leave outside those hours? Ask when you book — they'll do their best, but it can't be guaranteed, so check the cancellation terms before you count on it.

Yes. The farm sits above Gouves at the end of a track, with nothing in walking distance — which is most of the point. There's free private parking on site, no need to arrange it in advance. Arrive in daylight your first day; the last stretch is dirt road.

Pets are welcome on request, at no extra charge — just tell them before you book. There are farm animals and the owners' own dogs around, so it's worth a conversation about how yours will settle in.

You don't book those separately. Start a booking here on Solwyn, and once your dates are in you can tell Frangiskos and Marilena what you'd like to do while you're there. They shape it around your stay — there's nothing to arrange in advance and no separate checkout.

Get in touch

Questions about Eumelia?

Anything the page doesn't answer — a particular house, the best time to come, what the harvest looks like — just ask us. We're here to help with the details that make the difference.

Eumelia

Frangiskos and Marilena. He left a career in European institutions to farm his family's land. She came for a week's fieldwork and stayed.

The oldest tree on the farm

Marilena's table

Hands in the work

Four bioclimatic houses

Book Eumelia.

Finding Eumelia.

Before you book.

Questions about Eumelia?

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