Built 1911

The mansion has remained in the same family since it was built in 1911. It was passed down from the first lady of the manor, Antigone Goutos, to her daughter Aglaia and, later, to her grand-daughter Myrsine and her children, who are the present-day owners.  Built by the famous architect Ignatios Vafiadis of Smyrna, it was designed to be the main residence of the Goutos family: Loukis, Antigone and their three children, Costas, Maria and Aglaia.  

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Loukis Goutos, a wealthy cotton merchant with a flourishing business in Cairo, spent the best part of the year in Egypt, returning to Mytilene in the summer to see his family, check on his olive trees and avoid the intense African heat. Loukis was solely responsible for furnishing and decorating the family home, commissioning furniture, porcelain and silver from luxury Houses in Constantinople, Smyrna and Alexandria. He was married to Antigone (née Zanelli) in 1896; the land on which the mansion was built was part of her dowry. The couple's two daughters graduated high school in Mytilene and were then sent to a convent school in Egypt to perfect their French. They were married in the 1920's, with both wedding ceremonies having been held in the mansion's Main Hall. Sadly,  the eldest daughter Maria died giving birth to her first child in 1923. Loukis passed away in Egypt where he had been joined in the business by his son Costas, just before the outbreak of World War II, while his widow, Antigone, continued to live in the house up until her death in 1956.  

 

Aglaia Alepoudeli, née Goutou, (1902-2006), the Goutos family's youngest child, spent her childhood and young adulthood in the family home, until her marriage to Theodore Alepoudelis in 1927. Following the wedding she moved to Athens where Theodore was in charge of his family's soap factory. In 1932 they had a daughter, Myrsine. The Alepoudelis family summered in Mytilene, staying at the mansion which became fully staffed and operational from June till September, long after Antigone's passing. 

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Myrsine, Antigone's grand-daughter, continued the tradition of summers spent in Mytilene, with her husband Byron Leonidhopoulos (1927-2021) and their two children, the present-day owners. Over time she became preoccupied with the future of the mansion whose upkeep was and remains a high maintenance ongoing project. She shared this preoccupation with her daughter Marina and together they looked for possible solutions, talking to museums, cultural institutions and other organizations. In 2016 the mansion was declared a Contemporary Historic Monument by the Ministry of Culture. The senior Leonidhopoulos' spent their last summer together on the island in 2019. Soon after, Argyris Chatzimallis moved his looms and weaving business, Lebades, into two rooms on the first floor and together with Marina they decided to open the house to visitors, a few rooms at a time, sharing its history and that of the people who lived in it, while gradually renovating and refurbishing, a work in progress. 

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