The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has approved a grant to the Benaki Museum to fully cover the repair and restoration works as well as the cost of the necessary equipment for the Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor House in Kardamyli.

The property will soon start operating as a center for hosting notable figures from the intellectual and artistic worlds as well as a center for educational activities in collaboration with Institutions in Greece and abroad.

In 1996, while they were still alive, Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor bequeathed their home in Kardamyli to the Benaki Museum, with the intention that ownership of the house would be transferred to the museum after their deaths.

The museum acquired full ownership of the property in the autumn of 2011 and, as desired by the donors, is preparing for the house to operate as a center with the proposed title of the The Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor Center.

The operation of the center will take place in stages and planning of the following years will be based on the evaluation of its activity. The operations of the Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor Center will include:

• hosting of young writers and scholars for work and research purposes,

• organization of higher-educational activities in collaboration with Universities and Institutions in Greece and abroad,

• honorary hosting of notable representatives from the fields of literature, the arts and other fields,

• organization of educational and cultural events for the general public and residents of Kardamyli,

• scheduled tours of the property, focusing on the donors, the history of the house and its use by the Benaki Museum,

• short term honorary hosting of benefactors and major supporters of the Benaki Museum.

The unique location of the Patrick Leigh Fermor House, its distinctive architectural form and the luminance bestowed upon it by the author himself, in conjunction with the Benaki Museum’s supervision and the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, guarantee the creation of an exceptional center which will gain a high place among similar centers in Europe and the United States.