A farmhouse that screams character, in our family's little town... Let's just add that it is settled on a pleasant hill viewing at a small traditional village, olive groves and the sea on the horizon... Casa 1876 was an evidence to us.

 

We took time to get to know the place & the soul, the lights & the paces. Then after one year we decided to renovate the house in the spirit that seems to have always been there : a simple and genuine Mediterranean minimalism.

 

Our main concern was to be gentle, discreet & respecful of the architecture & character of the house while bringing the XXIst century standards to the 1876 old lady. We shared this sensitivity with our architects, from Studio Arte in Portimão, beside us all the time.

 

Inside the house, it looks like we did very little... Except for new bathrooms, new kitchen, new wiring, new plumbing, air conditionning & Wifi installation... Keeping the effortless & antique feeling was a full time job. We kept all the wooden doors (but painted it all white, because we did not liked so much the red & blue paints), the bamboo ceilings (also painted white), the stone door frames, the terra cotta floors. We also created a new bedroom in the old donkey's stable, and connected it to the rest of the house, creating a kind of family suite.

 

Outdoor, we created a kitchen & a lounge house, a bathroom with direct access from the pool, established new spaces in the garden... And last but not least, we built the pool. It lasted 9 months, because no ready-mix truck could reach the house, at the end of its quiet alley, and everything had to be hand made & carried. Some days, it was no less than 12 people working at the same time on the pool construction.

 

Quite a journey, right ? Then we had to refurbish the whole house. Henrique being Algavian & I being a museum curator, our house reflects this blend of sensibilities and our concern for keeping the unspoiled Mediterranean charm while creating a life proof home for us & our guests. To be honest, we should say too that we both work, live 2,000 km away & had a third baby in the meantime, so you can picture the behind-the-scene atmosphere. We are more than happy with the result & we just hope you will love it as much as we do.