Mário Domingues and Paula Cabrito wanted to recover a ruin in Alentejo to go on the weekend and three came out to them. Today, these ruins are Casas Caiadas, one of the six best retreats in the world, according to The Sunday Times Travel and “Most Tasteful Renovation” for Monocle magazine.
The three houses have different characteristics, but all were the target of the requalification project of architect Luís Pereira Miguel, with one thing in mind: to keep the original Alentejo moth. This explains the ceiling with wooden clays in sight, the old tile and above all the stone that lurks a little everywhere, strategically alternating with the lime.
The social house where the living room, kitchen and wood oven are located – and the only place where there is internet – was an old water mill, one of the largest in the region. The architect was inspired by the arched shape of the canals through which the neighboring stream passed, still visible, to design the pool. All white and rounded, it looks blue because of the reflection of the sky.
There are two houses left: one with three bedrooms and another all in stone, where the straw was once stored and now for a couple. In all, the décor crosses restored antique furniture and design pieces, such as the poufs of designer João Bruno, which look like skeins and are made with Arraiolos wool, or the cork lamps of Simple Forms. In this minimal and at the same time cozy frame, which can be rented exclusively for a maximum
of 10 people, there are still branches to make hangers, arrangements of dried flowers and even the horn of a deer found by Fanica, the alentejo mutt of the couple. There is no television nor mobile phone network, which explains that 80% of guests are foreigners looking for a quiet getaway. And authenticity.