A Restoration Project in Bodrum

When architect Deniz Kaya was hired to restore a two-hundred-year-old stone house in Bodrum's old town, she had no idea that the project would take nearly three times longer than originally planned. The house, which had been abandoned for over thirty years, had been purchased by a couple who dreamed of turning it into a small boutique hotel.

During the initial inspection, Deniz discovered that much of the original stonework had been damaged by decades of neglect and several unregulated repairs that had been carried out by previous owners without proper permits. If the earlier repairs had been done correctly, she later explained to the owners, the restoration would have been significantly simpler and less expensive.

As workers began removing a section of interior plaster that had been added sometime in the 1970s, they unexpectedly uncovered original hand-painted wooden ceiling panels hidden beneath it. Deniz was informed by the local heritage office that panels like these had rarely been found intact in the region, since most had been destroyed or painted over during modernization efforts decades earlier.

The discovery complicated matters considerably. Local preservation laws required that any historically significant elements uncovered during restoration had to be reported and properly documented before work could continue, which meant the project would be delayed for several additional weeks while officials assessed the panels.

Deniz was told by the heritage office that if the ceiling panels turned out to be as significant as they appeared, the entire restoration approach might need to be reconsidered to ensure the artwork was properly preserved and displayed, rather than simply covered up again as it had been decades before.

The owners, though initially frustrated by the delay, gradually became excited about the possibility of showcasing a piece of genuine history within their future hotel. They told Deniz that if they had known about the panels from the beginning, they would have designed the entire renovation around preserving and highlighting them.

Over the following months, a team of specialized conservators was brought in to carefully clean and stabilize the ancient paintings. It was discovered that the panels depicted scenes from local maritime life, likely painted by a sailor or fisherman who had lived in the house sometime in the nineteenth century, based on the style and subject matter.

Deniz has admitted that this project has fundamentally changed how she approaches restoration work. She used to believe that modern renovations should mostly hide a building's flaws, but she now argues that historic buildings should tell their full story, imperfections included, rather than being disguised to look artificially new.

News of the discovery spread throughout Bodrum's small community, and several other homeowners in the old town have since reached out to Deniz, curious whether their own houses might be hiding similar secrets beneath layers of more recent renovations. She has been asked to give a talk at a regional conference about heritage preservation, something she had never imagined happening when she first accepted this project.

When the hotel finally opened last month, nearly two years behind schedule, the restored ceiling panels became its most talked-about feature, with visitors specifically requesting rooms where they could see them. The owners have said publicly that although the delay had tested their patience severely, they wouldn't change a single decision if given the chance to do it all over again.