ABSTRACT
This was a voluntary agreement, and Jacky only sold to like-minded people, artists, musicians, and intellectuals. Most of the buyers were Greek, but early owners included two of Jacky’s closest friends: Delia (her sister-in-law) and Gwen Bell (a former student who succeeded Jacky as editor of Ekistics in 1972). Her idea was that the owners would form a “managing committee” to make decisions affecting the composite property [E.34]. In part, due to the sudden death of one of the key neighbors, this ideal never fully materialized. She was, however, sociable with her neighbors and discovered a real sense of community in Paiania, the nearby village of the family from whom she bought her land. In the summer of 1963, Jacky rented rooms there. Catharine, who lived there with her aunt, recalled: “Such was the hospitality of the villagers that we were frequently invited to their homes for our evening meal.” They made enduring friendships that summer. The villagers helped the families at Sparoza with harvests of olives, grapes, and other crops, and in turn the Sparoza households shared portions of their oil, wine, and produce. Slowly, Jacky became “part of the existing local community, while at the same time enhancing it with what she would create at Sparoza.”
