Tsamis Residence

In 1929, Stellios Barbas, an immigrant from Monastir in America, bought a Turkish house on the site of which was built in 1929 and in 1993 the urban villa that is still standing today. A beautiful impression is created by the columns reaching up to the roof, the large arched window on the ground floor and the elaborate courtyard door.
According to Olga Tsami, since 1940 the building has been inhabited by the family of the lawyer Vassilis Tsami, brother of Olga and Antigone, a well-known writer and folklorist of the city and the region of Pisoderi. The house was subsequently purchased by the Tsamis family.
During the German occupation the house was requisitioned and some German services operated. For a short time it served as the Information Centre of the Prefecture of Florina and later housed the OKANA and the General State Archives of the Prefecture of Florina. It also functioned as a bar.
On the façade, the “propylon” of the entrance is projected, dominated by the elongated staircase skylight that develops on both levels with a small “oval” window at its base, while in the right part of the façade, which is in retreat, the well-known “triple” Art Nouveau opening with an arched lintel is formed centrally, leading to the balcony, which is created by this retreat.
The current owner is Evangelos Zachariou.

SOURCE: 1) Panagiotis Notas
2) Zarkada Pistioli Chr. (2003). The architecture of Florina in the interwar period.