Carla and André realized the dream of many people: recover a ruined property in Alentejo. The idea came about after the first child was born: they wanted a space for him to run outdoors and get dirty on the land, and the apartment in Lisbon was no longer enough. In the recovery the traditional trace was maintained, now with the right to windows open to the outside, and the house was completely insulated at the thermal level, with a reinforcement on the south façade, where it was coated with cork – in such a way that it does not even need air conditioning. Only the living room and kitchen area, in open space, has about 100 square meters, because another thing the couple wanted was “to have a place where to gather friends, make barbecues and appeal to conviviality”.
Since the end of 2019 they have also begun to receive guests and share the vegetable garden, the wood oven – where workshops of Alentejo bread take place sometimes – and the seven hectares adjacent to the house, where they made a point of keeping the centuries-old trees and where sheep, chickens and a donkey now also live. Between the water hole and the solar panels, it’s all self-sufficient.
The hill is generous and includes four bedrooms, all with possibility to put an extra bed and one with an independent entrance and mezzanine, which they called loft. The property also includes a swimming pool, a barn (which this year will be premiered with the first wedding) and a playground with the right to slide, swings, ropes and a wooden house. Every morning, breakfast is delivered to the door, freshly prepared by the housekeepers.