The 100-Year-Old Greek Stone House Behind Kaktüshan

The 100-Year-Old Greek Stone House Behind Kaktüshan:

The Kaktüshan Greek stone house is the hundred-year-old building at the heart of Kaktüshan Boutique Hotel in Alaçatı, restored six years ago by the Kaya family rather than rebuilt from scratch. Its walls date back to Alaçatı’s Greek Orthodox (“Rum”) period, and its restoration deliberately kept as much of the original structure as possible. This article covers where the house actually comes from, how the Kaya family restored it, who they are, and why travelers increasingly seek out restored historic buildings like this one instead of newly built hotels.

What Is the History of the Kaktüshan Greek Stone House?

The Kaktüshan Greek stone house is roughly a hundred years old and was built during the period when Alaçatı was home to a Greek Orthodox (“Rum”) community, whose ancestors had settled the town in the mid-19th century after arriving from nearby Greek islands such as Chios.

That community built Alaçatı’s now-famous stone houses using a technique called “hımış,” a timber frame filled in with stone rubble that gave the buildings flexibility during earthquakes, and they favored a honey-colored, porous volcanic stone quarried locally for both its looks and its natural insulation (source: Dem Turkish Center, “Authentic Alaçatı Houses”). In 1923, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey meant the town’s Greek Orthodox residents left and Muslim families from Greece arrived in their place, but the architecture itself stayed largely intact, which is why a building with “Rum” origins is standing, and now operating as a hotel, a century later.

Era	What Happened
Mid-19th century	Greek Orthodox (“Rum”) islanders from Chios settle Alaçatı and build its first stone houses
~100 years ago	The house that is now Kaktüshan is built during Alaçatı’s Greek Orthodox period
1923	Population exchange; Greek Orthodox residents leave, Muslim families arrive, architecture remains
6 years ago	The Kaya family restores the house and opens it as Kaktüshan Boutique Hotel

How Was Kaktüshan’s Stone House Restored, and What Was Kept?

Kaktüshan’s stone house was restored, not demolished and rebuilt, following a simple rule the Kaya family still repeats today: nothing was removed and discarded, everything was built upon, so the original stone walls, layout, and character of the hundred-year-old building are still what guests see and sleep inside.

The clearest example of that philosophy is a tree in the garden. When the family began restoring the property six years ago, they were advised more than once to cut down a tree that stood in the way of construction plans. They didn’t. The tree stayed, the plans changed around it, and it now shades part of the same garden where breakfast is served every morning. It’s a small decision, but it says more about how the restoration was approached than any brochure could: preservation first, convenience second.

That same approach shaped the rest of the project. Rather than gutting the interior to create uniform, modern hotel rooms, the family worked with the house’s existing structure, which is part of why Kaktüshan’s nine rooms vary so much in size and shape, from a compact 10 m² to a more spacious 17 m², instead of being identical boxes.

Guests sometimes assume a “restored” building means a fully modernized interior with the old character stripped out for convenience. That isn’t what happened at the Kaktüshan Greek stone house. The stone walls, uneven floor levels between rooms, and the absence of an elevator are all direct consequences of choosing restoration over reconstruction, and the family has never tried to disguise that trade-off as something it isn’t.

Who Is Behind the Kaktüshan Greek Stone House Restoration?

The Kaktüshan Greek stone house restoration was led and financed by the Kaya family: Harun Bey and Ayşe Hanım, together with their three daughters, Leyla, Raziye, and Elif, who between them now run the property their parents brought back to life.

Ayşe Hanım is also the person behind the hotel’s weekly hand-made jam, served at breakfast under the garden’s lemon, orange, and plum trees. Across the three daughters, the family describes an informal division of talents: one drawn more to design, one to storytelling and guest communication, and one to the kitchen, though exactly who does what shifts day to day the way it does in most family-run properties. What stays constant is that this is still a family home turned into a nine-room hotel, not a property bought and operated at a distance.

That distinction matters more than it might seem. A restoration led by the people who will actually live alongside the finished building tends to prioritize different things than one led by an outside developer: a tree gets saved instead of removed, a room stays an odd 10 m² shape instead of being squared off, and decisions get made slowly, over years, rather than on a fixed renovation deadline. The Kaktüshan Greek stone house shows that difference in almost every corner of it.

Why Do Travelers Seek Out Restored Historic Hotels Like Kaktüshan?

Travelers increasingly choose restored historic buildings over newly built hotels because staying somewhere with a real, verifiable past has become part of what people are actually looking for on a trip, not just a nice-to-have detail on top of the room itself.

According to Expedia Group’s Unpack ’26 travel trends report, based on first-party data from 24,000 travelers across 18 countries, 90 percent of luxury travelers say they want to integrate history into their journeys, and 45 percent of global tourists now favor boutique accommodations over standard hotel chains (source: ICE Global News, “Heritage Hotels Continue to Attract Travelers in 2026”). The same report values the global heritage tourism market at $624.55 billion in 2025, projected to reach $936.97 billion by 2033.

Kaktüshan fits squarely into that pattern, not because the family set out to chase a trend, but because the hundred-year-old Greek stone house was already there, and restoring it turned out to be exactly what a growing share of travelers say they want more of. To read about the rooms carved out of that same building, see Kaktüshan’s Nine Cactus-Named Rooms: A Complete Guide to Choosing Yours, and for more on the family running it, visit the hotel’s own Hakkımızda (About Us) page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How old is the Kaktüshan Greek stone house?

The building is roughly a hundred years old, dating to Alaçatı’s Greek Orthodox (“Rum”) period before the 1923 population exchange.

When was the house restored?

The Kaya family restored the house and opened it as Kaktüshan Boutique Hotel six years ago.

Did the family keep the original structure?

Yes. The family’s stated approach was to build upon the existing structure rather than remove and replace it, including preserving a tree in the garden that stood in the way of the original construction plan.

Who owns and runs Kaktüshan today?

The Kaya family: Harun Bey, Ayşe Hanım, and their three daughters, Leyla, Raziye, and Elif.