EXCLUSIVE: Rory and his partner Stephanie were due to move their three children to Greece on August 10 before wildfires struck – now they’re living in a one-bed flat
A heartbroken family has lost their forever home in the Greek mountains just days before they were due to leave the UK and move there permanently.
Rory Clifford and Stephanie Harper, 36 and 35, spent the entirety of their savings and income building their perfect home in the mountainous region of Peloponnese, in the south of the country. They had shipped all their sentimental belongings last year ahead of the dream move next week.
The couple had even enrolled their twin daughters, Evangeline and Ivaria, eight, in a local school for September. They also have a 19-month-old little girl called Athena.
However, fast-moving wildfires have swept through parts of Greece in recent days and it has resulted in their home and everything in it being destroyed.
Stephanie, who is also currently pregnant with twins, has now spoken exclusively to The Mirror about how the tragic situation has completely upended their lives.
In an emotional interview, she told us: “We are a very resilient family but this has knocked it out of us completely. The emptiness and sorrow has been overwhelming.
“A dream and hard work not just from us but the Greek community who helped us achieve our home… just stolen in seconds.
“I can’t describe the grief, as it’s not just the house we built, it’s all the cherished memories and the home we created inside.”
The destruction of the property, which they bought in 2023, has meant that they are now stuck living in a one-bedroom flat in Hastings, East Sussex, a complete contrast to what their news lives would have entailed.
They had spent well over €300,000 (approx £257,000) making it the ideal place to raise a family in the sun where they were also due to bring their three rescue dogs.
Stephanie said the money came from their own hard work from running a designer furniture business together, as well as savings and loans.
The mum said they sold everything they had to make the relocation, which they had been planning for over a decade, possible.
The process was long, stressful and came with many unexpected big costs, like spending over £10,000 replacing 2km of piping up the mountain in an effort to get water to the house.
Despite working day and night to jump through each obstacle, they are now cruelly left starting from scratch.
Since the devastating wildfire, Stephanie’s sister, Gabby, has started a GoFundMe to help the “inconsolable” family rebuild their lives.
Stephanie said she was grateful and emotional about the response so far and she fears that even with insurance and cover, they need in the region of €100,000 (£85,000) to get back on track.
And regarding the fundraiser, she said: “Even saying this part makes us feel a little uncomfortable. We are not materialistic people and we don’t want people reading about a pool, and thinking here we go, first world problems.
“We live a very modest life, we have lived in a one-bedroom flat for 12 years, we have slept on a sofa bed for eight of those years, with our children having the bedroom, this Greek house was everything to us.
“It was a way of us affording a life we wanted to give our children, we spent every penny on giving our children the life they deserve and admittedly we were unbelievably excited to sleep in an actual bed. We will rebuild and we can’t give up.”
Greece has always held a special place in the hearts of Stephanie and Rory who travelled there back in 2011 in a campervan.
The people left a mark on them and they began to envisage raising a family there.
Over time, the UK no longer felt like home, and with the cost of living crisis putting a strain on their business, they decided to make a bold and brave decision together.
“Everything pointed to moving there,” Stephanie explained. “We just had to work it out. So that’s what we did and it took patience and a lot of research to make sure we had the right area.”
That area turned out to be Peloponnese, a mountainous peninsula in southern Greece. The family spent eight weeks living there last summer and were able to picture what it would feel like doing so full-time.
Since then, they have spent an enormous amount of time and money making sure everything was ready to move there permanently on August 10.
Stephanie had even been in contact with obstetrics to have her twins there at the start of 2027.
However, last Friday, a close friend who lives in a nearby village in Peloponnese told them that a wildfire was close to their region.
It was something they experienced themselves last year and they noticed first-hand how incredibly fast the fire service was.
On this occasion, though, their home could not be rescued. “We were helpless waiting for news. However, as darkness fell, helicopters can’t fly at night, so they’d have to wait until the first light.
“It took our house at 4am.”
As for what the future holds for the soon to be family-of-seven, Stephanie said it was still early days and they were trying to figure out an action plan.
She said they were determined not to let it beat them, but admitted that keeping a positive mindset was challenging.
As for how their kids are coping, Stephanie added: “They have coped really well to be honest, it’s hard for them to process as they were ready for the change and their next chapter.
“We will still do anything for our children’s happiness and future which is why we can’t give up on the House on the Mountain.”
To make a donation on the fundraiser, you can do so here
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