Judith Hendershott Clasical Concert Agent - Artful Productıon

"I had the good fortune to meet Damla Yaltirik in June 2002 when, with my wife Judy, I was in the process of buying a plot of land at Kisla near the village of Kalkan in south-western Turkey. We had decided to build a villa -- not just a standard Mediterranean villa but a distinctive design but that would express our personalitiies as well as reflecting Turkish architectural tradition.

Our builder had suggested Damla. "She is the best architect in Kalkan," he assured us. Normally such a fulsome recommendation would be best treated with great caution. In Damla´s case we have no doubt whatsoever that it is absolutely correct.

We had seen several villas in and around Kalkan, including one designed by Damla. Her approach was intuitive, sensing the tastes and lifestyle of her clients. After one "lifestyle" meeting with Damla she sent us detailed plans. One of these particularly struck our fancy, an Ottoman-style villa with many distinctive features. There was an angled window in our study where we could sit on floor cushions to read as light streamed in from the north; a wooden patio extension from the main main living room with a pergola in the Bosphorus tradition; a shady area beneath the patio and next to the swimming pool where we have strung up a hammock; on the exterior rear facade a decorative mihrab faced with bricks in a herring-bone pattern.

Our day-to-day living in the house has shown that the house is not only composed of high imagination but is also a very practical design. Having experienced the house now for several weeks I can say categorically that the promise Damla made in her design -- "I believe this house will be a magnificent one" -- has been amply realised.

Damla is not only an unusally creative person she is also thoroughly practical. As one small personal way of acknowledging what she has done for us we could only give the house one name --Villa Damla."


John Munch (Financial Times, London)
Judith Hendershott (clasical concert agent, Artful Productions, London)