the houses

Surrounded by olive trees, two sets of whitewashed houses stand suspended in an amphitheater of rice fields.
Renovated from ruins in a project ordered to architect Pedro Ressano Garcia, who, recognizing the building's historical and vernacular value, respected the original layout and its curvatures. The horizontality is accentuated by the insistence of a single floor, where the white stripe of the walls, like an horizontal accent, separates the blue of the sky from the earthy yellow of the ground and the fresh green of the rice fields. The "listening chimneys" are dominant elements in the architectural composition, standing in a row atop the houses as witnesses of the gatherings around the fire and family conversations throughout ancient times decorated with symbols of protection carefully repaired.

Lime was used to coat the walls and to make the mortars, in rough lime plaster, for its beauty and ancient origins, for its thermal insulation properties and for its rich texture enhanced by the grazing light.

Local materials were used and much of the demolition remains, such as tiles, beams, and stones, were reinstated in different parts of the buildings, also preserving an original schist facade inside the living room.

The patios and the indoor floors are covered with rustic Alentejo tiles, and the shower areas were panelled with 18th-century tiles salvaged from a demolition site in Sintra.

A small collection of paintings and tiles by Portuguese artists such as Eduardo Malta, Sofia Aguiar, Tomás Colaço, Andreas Stöcklein, Pedro Homem de Melo, and Jorge Santos. The latter, now deceased, also designed the swimming pool, which reproduces one of his works, on display in the Pátio da Romaneira.

In the courtyards of each room, there are small walled gardens of Persian and Mediterranean inspiration, featuring native Portuguese flora, which contribute to the maintenance and promotion of biodiversity and the sustainability of the estate. Inspired by ancestral courtyard houses, they allow for an experience of an outdoor space of peace and seclusion.

These buildings symbolize an almost monastic lifestyle, with a slower more natural pace, as in the past.