{"id":66,"date":"2025-12-30T18:48:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vilaliva.com\/?page_id=66"},"modified":"2026-07-20T15:59:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:59:54","slug":"ons-verhaal","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vilaliva.com\/en\/ons-verhaal\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nOur story\n<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\nJust to get acquainted\n<\/h2><\/div>

\nWe are Linda van den Ham and Vanessa Viva Koomen. We fell in love with each other in 2007 and fell in love with the green Greek island of Samos in 2019. We have visited various Greek islands, but after getting to know Samos, we knew straight away: as soon as we could, we wanted a little house here. We started saving, researching, shared our wish with the locals, and metaphorically planted seeds for our dream: a beautiful villa on Samos. And, importantly, we also let go and accepted when \u2018doors closed\u2019, intuitively approached the right people, and followed our hearts for the important decisions.\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

\nThe perfect place\n<\/h2>

\nStep 1<\/b> This was the search for the place, the plot of land. That was also a beautiful process; we were shown various pieces of wasteland or half-finished houses. Nothing made our hearts beat faster, so we had patience and waited (essential in these kinds of processes too). Ultimately, after a great deal of patience, we found this place. We got goosebumps here... this was the place!\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>

\nThe building\n<\/h2>

\nStep 2<\/b> was the search for the right architect and builder. We found them! The talented and passionate builder Manolis Kyriazis built our villa \u201cFor the Girls.\u201d He builds with authentic materials and uses old vases and ceramics, which he incorporates into the walls (see the exterior of Vila Liva). Furthermore, this builder constructs in an earthquake-proof manner in accordance with current building regulations in Greece.\n<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

\nThe reality\n<\/h2>
\nStep 3 <\/b>arrange everything, find a party who spoke Greek and knew the legislation and who could mediate and help us brainstorm, because we are not property investors, not commercial ladies but dreamers and doers. This search led us to Chana van der Velden, Griekenland Makelaardij. Finally, construction could begin.

Our motto is: 'Trust the builder's experience, don't try to control everything yourself, let go and steer indirectly where possible!\u2019\u00a0

In 2026 the actual handover will take place, but Vila Liva was virtually completed in December 2025. The entire process took approximately 1.5 years.\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n

It's particularly worth mentioning that after we started our house, interest from people who also had this dream increased, and soon a second house, and later a third and a fourth house, were added. This way, we can make big decisions together, such as realising a paved road etc. That's nice!<\/p>\n

And now our dream has become a reality, and besides being incredibly proud and grateful, we are also ready to share this with others. We do this in our Vila Liva way via this website and not through commercial organisations or other types of websites.<\/p>\n\n

It's important to us to be able to let others share in this special island and our beautiful place.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Greek Greeting,
<\/span>Li<\/b>No <\/span>Go<\/b>Nessa - LiVa<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\nOur values\n<\/h2>

\nThe points below are of great importance to us:\n<\/p>

\nRespect\n<\/h3>

\n...out of love for the island of Samos, its local people and its overwhelmingly beautiful nature, we show respect \ud83c\udfe1.\n<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>

\nSustainability\n<\/h3>

\n...to help preserve the authentic beauty of Samos. We have deliberately chosen a small swimming pool and we are economical with water. We use as few plastic bags as possible, opting for our own reusable shopping bags. If you see litter in nature, please pick it up \ud83d\ude07.\n<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>

\nNature\n<\/h3>
\n...is beautiful but also vulnerable to fire, poison, cleaning agents, etc. We are mindful of fire, lighters, candles, etc. A spark on dry nature can mean a huge disaster \ud83d\ude92. We do not smoke in Vila Liva. You can smoke outside but please be mindful of the value of Nature \ud83e\ude77.\n<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\nBook Now\n<\/h2>

\nVila Liva is available from August 2026 \n<\/p><\/div>

\nBook Vila Liva\n<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ons verhaal Even kennismaken Wij zijn Linda van den Ham en Vanessa Viva Koomen. Wij werden in 2007 verliefd op elkaar en in 2019 verliefd op het groene Griekse eiland Samos. We zijn op diverse Griekse eilanden geweest maar na Samos te hebben leren kennen wisten we het al snel: zodra het kan willen wij […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oxygen_hide_in_design_set":false,"_oxygen_tags":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-66","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOns Verhaal - Vila Liva | Vakantiehuis Samos Griekenland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vilaliva.com\/en\/ons-verhaal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ons Verhaal - Vila Liva | Vakantiehuis Samos Griekenland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ons verhaal Even kennismaken Wij zijn Linda van den Ham en Vanessa Viva Koomen. 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