Penelope RoomsRooms

Dhërmi · Albanian Riviera

The house and garden, in photographs.

A white house in a garden of olive and fruit trees above Dhërmi beach. Tap any photograph to see it large.

The house

White render, brick-faced balconies and a tiled pergola over the porch.

The white three-storey house with brick-faced balconies, a tiled pergola over the porch and magenta bougainvillea along the front, mountains behind — The house, from the drive

The corner of the white house with its stacked balconies, a tall cypress and red lantana in front, under a clear sky — The house behind the cypress

Stone steps up to the front door under a timber pergola with terracotta tiles, potted plants either side — The porch steps

A paved path running up beside the house under a cascade of magenta bougainvillea, cliffs and green hillside behind — Bougainvillea up the side path

A banana flower hanging in the foreground, the white house and its balconies behind on a green lawn — The banana plant

A white corridor with an arch, wooden doors on both sides and a tiled floor — Inside, the corridor

The garden

Olive and fruit trees on the slope, geraniums by the door and the sign in the meadow.

A curving paved path through the garden past the ground-floor terrace, a banana plant and a cypress, with white houses and mountains beyond — The path through the garden

An old olive tree shading a flagstone terrace, bougainvillea at its edge and a strip of blue sea beyond the trees — Under the olive

A balcony with chairs and a small table seen through an open door, bougainvillea on the rail and green hills beyond — A balcony over the garden

A hand-painted blue plank sign reading Penelope's Rooms and the phone number, on a post in a meadow of wildflowers under old olive trees — The sign in the meadow

Close-up of a magenta geranium flower — A geranium by the door

An orange paraffin lantern in a small brick niche beside a blue-patterned tile — A lantern in the wall

Black-and-white close-up of a stone mortar against a dry-stone wall — A stone mortar by the wall

Evenings

The fire ring and its benches, after dark and in the afternoon.

The round whitewashed fire pit lit at night, curved white benches with timber seats around it and a dog asleep on the paving — The fire ring at night

Flames rising from logs in the stone-rimmed fire pit, in darkness — The fire

The whitewashed fire pit by day on a paved circle with timber bench seats, cypresses and a limestone hillside behind — The fire ring by day

The rooms

Doubles, the family room and the stone studio.

A white double bed with a buttoned headboard, towels folded on the cover, on a pale tiled floor — The double bed

A double bed in a white room with a cream sofa, a small table and a curtained door open to the balcony — Sofa and balcony door

Wide view of a white room with a double bed, a daybed by the open balcony door and the shower room beyond — The room, wide

A double bed made up with white linen and towels, a bedside table beside it — Made up for arrival

A double bed laid with towels, a pink sofa and a small table with a lace cloth, a door open to a balcony with chairs — Sofa, bed and balcony

A single bed and a double bed side by side in a white room, an air-conditioning unit over the curtained balcony door — Double and single

A double bed with a turquoise cover and white towels tied in a bow — The double

A family room with two beds under turquoise covers, a wardrobe and an orange travel cot — With the cot set up

Panorama of a white room with a single bed, a double bed, a refrigerator and the door to a blue-tiled shower room — The room, wide

A double bed with an upholstered grey headboard and a white quilted cover, lamps either side — The bed

A stone-walled room with a white iron double bed, two armchairs with peach cushions, a red striped runner and curtained windows — The stone studio

Around Dhërmi

What you see from the garden and the road down.

Turquoise sea and a long pale beach seen from the wooded hillside above, a single cypress among the trees — Dhërmi beach from the hill

White stone houses of a village clustered on a steep green slope below grey cliffs — Dhërmi village, up the hill

Wooded hills with white houses on the slopes and grey mountains in the distance, a banana leaf in the foreground — Looking up from the garden

Pink flowers in the foreground, cypresses and the village below, and a high limestone ridge behind — The ridge behind the house

Grey limestone peaks over a green ridge under broken cloud — The mountains over Dhërmi