Overnight, the dream of a British family preparing to settle permanently in Greece — specifically in the Aigialeia region — came crashing down. Rory Clifford and Stephanie Harper had completed every preparation to make their move to Greece on 10 August, but a devastating wildfire that swept through the area completely destroyed their home, into which they had invested more than €300,000. Despite the shock and the loss, they say they are determined to rebuild their lives in the place they had chosen for their family’s future. According to the Mirror, the couple, aged 36 and 35, purchased the property in 2023 and carried out extensive renovation work, aiming to create their dream family home in the mountains of the southern Peloponnese. As they themselves describe, the support they received from the local community — which stood by them throughout the entire process — was absolutely invaluable. The family had already shipped all of their personal belongings to Greece, and their eight-year-old twin daughters, Evangeline and Ivaria, had already been enrolled in a local school for the new academic year. They had also planned to bring along the three rescue dogs they had adopted.
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British family: “Our dream was gone in a matter of seconds”
The family was also preparing to grow even larger, as Stephanie is pregnant with a second set of twins. Alongside their two eight-year-old daughters, they are also raising 19-month-old Athena, which made the move to Greece all the more significant for their future. Stephanie emotionally described the moment they learned that their home had been destroyed.
“We are a very strong family, but this broke us. The emptiness and the grief are unbearable. A dream built through hard work — not just by us, but by the local Greek community that helped us — was gone in a matter of seconds. We didn’t just lose a house. We lost all the memories and the life we had built within it,” she said. Today, instead of preparing for their permanent move to the Peloponnese, the entire family is living together in a one-bedroom flat in Hastings, in south-east England.
British family sold everything to start over
The family’s decision to leave Britain was not made on a whim. For more than ten years they had been preparing for the move, saving money from their personal savings, bank loans, and the income from their bespoke furniture design business.
To make their dream a reality, they sold almost all of their possessions, and also had to cover significant unforeseen costs. Among these was the replacement of approximately two kilometres of pipework, an expense that exceeded £10,000, in order to secure the property’s water supply.
“We lived in a one-bedroom flat for twelve years. For eight of those years, we slept on a sofa bed so that the children could have their own room. That house in Greece was everything to us. We simply wanted to give our children the life they deserve and, honestly, we couldn’t wait to finally sleep in a proper bed,” she said.
Aigialeia wildfire destroys home in the middle of the night
Stephanie revealed that last Friday, a family friend from a nearby village informed them that a large wildfire was approaching the area. As she explained, they had lived through a similar experience the previous year, when they had been impressed by the swift response of the Greek fire service.
This time, however, the conditions were different. “We watched helplessly, waiting for news. When darkness fell, the helicopters could no longer fly and had to wait until dawn. The fire destroyed our home at four in the morning,” she said.
Following the disaster, Stephanie’s sister launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe, as, even if an insurance payout comes through, the family estimates they will need approximately €100,000 to be able to rebuild their home.
Despite the hardship, Stephanie says she is determined to press on. “We feel uncomfortable even talking about financial help. We’re not people who chase luxury. We don’t want people to read that we had a swimming pool and think this is some kind of luxury problem. That house was our chance to give our children a better life,” she said, before concluding with resolve: “We will rebuild. We cannot give up.”
Photo source: Mirror
