Mother-of-three Michele Wright, 49, was called by police on the holiday island of Crete to say: “Sorry but your house has exploded.”
The massive blast demolished the £250,000 dormer countryside bungalow.
Mrs Wright posted a message on Facebook from Crete saying: “Apparently my house has just exploded and I am now homeless. Seriously.”
Firemen believe the massive blast was caused by a build up of gas – possibly after an appliance was left on when Mrs Wright went on holiday ten days ago.
Locals heard a loud “boom like a bomb going off” as the modern detached bungalow was reduced to rubble.
Walls were blown out, the roof blown off and solar panels sent flying into the garden.
Neighbour Geraint Davies said: “I was watching television and there was one horrendous bang.
“I went outside and it was snowing – it was the insulation coming down from the sky and it lasted for another five minutes.
“I looked up the road and I could see that the house next door had disappeared.”
Heating engineer Mr Davies said the 30m blast radius sent the front door flying into the middle of the road and glass into his field of horses.
He said: “There were two fire engines, lots of police and an ambulance.
“They used heat-seeking guns to look for any bodies and then called in a specialist search and rescue dog.
“No one could go near the house for a while because the solar panels were still live and the electricity had to be cut off.
“It had been a week since anyone was in the house – it’s an accumulation of something.”
Mrs Wright left the house in the village of Beulah, near Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire, to go on a fortnight holiday with her daughter.
Locals said it was lucky they were away because anyone in the property would have been killed outright.