In the Petralona neighborhood of central Athens, couple and design duo Konstantinos Pantazis and Marianna Rentzou have established a light drenched, vertically expansive family home on a small city plot with a social courtyard and brimming garden. Filled with enlivening color, light, and distinctive details, the house combines architectural expertise with experience, responding to the daily rhythms of family life. The expressive interiors find synergy with the bustling local environment, while elements of simplicity are inspired by the architecture found on Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

““I like to have both perfection and imperfection – I would be bored if I only had perfection, and chaotic if I would have only imperfection.””

– Marianna Rentzou

As co-founders of Point Supreme Architects – founded in Rotterdam in 2008, and since relocated to Athens – the Greek designers have seamlessly translated the core sensibilities of their practice into a playful yet tranquil domestic space, restoring Old-World design principles to a contemporary way of life. Merging historical design and classical art with modern lines and playful components, the house’s various reference points ascend through different inspirations and intentions as it rises high from the ground to the sky.

“In Greece the light is associated with heat. You control the way you relate to the light: it’s about shadow, and interesting light situations coming through.”

– Konstantinos Pantazis

Leaning into a state of discovery that centers how their children relate to the space, the architects have designed their home to capture the abundant light of Athens, from the outside-inside layout of the ground floor, to sky-level portholes that diffuse the sun into scattered patterns throughout the day. In both bold and small ways, Pantazis and Rentzou’s home reinforces a dialogue between perfection and imperfection, enabling personal and aesthetic interactions to give meaning to the spaces around them.