Most constructing builders attempt to maximize their earnings by growing all their owned land. However Angelos Michalopoulos and his spouse, Vassiliki Petridou, are choosing the alternative strategy. They’re selecting to construct on only one% of the land they personal to allow them to afford to protect the remainder of it.

As Greek natives, they grew up with an appreciation for nature. Michalopoulos was raised in Athens. His father was a panorama architect who impressed him to like the surroundings. “Nature is reality. Nature doesn’t lie like folks do. And that’s why we are likely to really feel very comfy with nature, as a result of it offers us a linearity and it grounds us,” Michalopoulos explains. “Greece is a rustic that has nearly an innate love of the surroundings.”

Petridou shares her husband’s views about nature and had an analogous upbringing. “Our era right here in Greece, as kids, [we] spend a whole lot of time outdoors, taking part in soccer on the grass and working round in open areas. It was a childhood that was very linked to nature,” she says.

Michalopoulos and Petridou’s story begins with love—of Greece and household

Michalopoulos and Petridou first met in 1983 whereas attending Cornell College in New York. They married in 1987 throughout a civil ceremony after which had a standard ceremony in Athens. The couple welcomed triplets in 1994 and twins in 1998 whereas residing on the Higher West Facet of New York Metropolis. Throughout a household trip to the island of Ios in Greece, they determined to embark on what Michalopoulos refers to as an experiment with proudly owning and preserving land. 

He explains that there are three other ways to handle land you personal. The primary manner is to depart it untouched and do nothing. “After which simply await every thing to economically self-destruct till the era after the [next] era decides that this concept has not labored properly,” he says.

The second possibility is to do the alternative—construct on all of the land that you just personal. He gives an instance of how this has occurred in different components of Greece. “The way in which of Mykonos and Santorini, which [are] overdeveloped and have the revenue maximization because the flag and the ethos of the entire experiment,” he explains.

Their ardour undertaking: Preserving 99% of their land

The final possibility is the one which Michalopoulos and Petridou selected with their land. “We suggest a manner the place we’ll develop 1% of our space after which go away 99% untouched,” he says. “We felt that was the one manner that we may give to our youngsters,” he says. On that 1% of land, they personal two resorts—Calilo on the beachside and Agalia on the portside.

Michalopoulos explains that he hasn’t left the complete land untouched as a result of he’s utilizing the cash earned from the resorts to keep up the preserved land and pay the taxes on it. “This must be economically sustainable. If it’s not sustainable economically, no era… will ever assist this enterprise,” he says. “We have to make it possible for not solely in our lifetime, but in addition the lifetime of our youngsters after which onwards, this plan, this experiment—as a result of it’s an experiment—will succeed, and the one manner to do this is to be financially viable.”

In 2004, the couple started buying land earlier than opening Agalia lodge and Calilo resort in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Michalopoulos and Petridou now personal 1 / 4 of Ios island and credit score their profitability to growing solely a small portion of land over an prolonged time frame.

Moreover needing to be economically sustainable with their land, they opened the resorts so folks may admire the wonder in Ios. “The entire undertaking can be a really energetic undertaking of hospitality—to have the ability to share this island that we fell in love with, with different folks,” Petridou says.

What makes Calilo and Agalia luxurious lodges so particular

Sure folks make the island particularly significant: Three of the couple’s 5 kids at the moment work there. They attempt to preserve wholesome relationships by retaining work separate from household time. “You place this into compartments,” Michalopoulos says. “We put limits on the precise time you [discuss business] after which you’ll be able to benefit from the household enterprise.”

Once they do discuss enterprise, a serious focus is the model’s dedication to sustainability. The lodges take an eco-friendly strategy with waste administration, energy strains and water assortment. LuxurIOS, the duo’s hospitality firm, which manages Calilo, promotes sustainable tourism in Greece. 

“Sustainability is the one answer to the overdevelopment of the opposite islands,” Michalopoulos says. The web sites for Calilo and LuxurIOS each describe Michalopoulos and Petridou’s detailed imaginative and prescient for the way they plan to protect the island.

Michalopoulos explains that “Individuals monetize magnificence.” He says that it’s comprehensible why they achieve this, however it’s vital to not overdo it. 

“The large lesson that the final 100 years have taught us is that no person demolishes buildings,” he says. “We simply carry on constructing and constructing and constructing, which signifies that as soon as we make them, as soon as we construct them, they’re there, they usually develop into a part of an issue as an alternative of a part of the answer.”

Michalopoulos and Petridou’s secret? Loving their land

Though he firmly believes in his experiment of preserving the land he owns, he’s not suggesting all builders comply with swimsuit. “Each individual is answerable for their very own ethos and for their very own ideas,” he says. “I don’t need to export my mind-set to a different one that sleeps each evening with a conscience. For me, that is the fitting factor to do.”

Petridou additionally factors out that many giant constructing builders don’t have any connection to the land they’re growing. “They don’t fairly really feel what precisely is going on by taking on one thing lovely and creating it as one other money machine,” she says. “There’s nobody that truly cares about what’s occurring on the island and the collection of villages. I believe they’re a bit disconnected.”

There are numerous causes Michalopoulos and Petridou love their island. “It has actually an innocence. The second you step foot, you belong,” Petridou says. She explains that almost all lodges recreate what folks have already skilled earlier than. However if you go to their island, she says you’ll be able to expertise an authenticity that embraces everybody. “We opened the door for folks to come back in. And it’s a really, very welcoming island.”

Photograph courtesy of LuxurIOS.