We find it difficult to sum up the Eastern Algarve, probably because it’s surprised us how much we love its low-key, fashion-free charm. There’s no smack-you-round-the-face, jaw dropping beauty like Tuscany or Provence, no fantastic night life like Ibiza or the boho chicness of Formentera. It’s just very simple, unpretentious, humble and hype-free. It’s the land that the internet forgot, and in fairness, parts of it are a bit grotty and gritty. But most of it is bloody great, just in a way that’s different and less obvious than anywhere else we’ve been. If you’re gonna go, it’s good to know this, and not have expectations of sophistication, superstar DJs or supermodels, fine dining or rockin beach parties.

In a nutshell, the geography has defined all this. The Ria Formosa, which runs through most of it, is a natural lagoon that separates the (lovely) beaches from the mainland coast, meaning that most of them are only accessible by boat. This has led to very little touristic developments in the area, so there’s hardly a high rise or ‘resort’ to be seen, which in turn means the area is very Portuguese, with lots of farmers and fisherman, simple (delicious) restaurants and local life. Very little is geared directly towards holiday making…so the flip side of that is: it’s a great place to go on holiday! Oh, and the weather’s pretty awesome, the people are ace, and it’s cheap. Bingo!

Our Pinterest page is an introduction to some of the best stuff around The Casa.

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The turn off from the main road / the start of our dusty track

Maria and Francisco below us are ace, and constantly offering us gifts of grapes or figs or whatever they have recently harvested from their land. Luciano, the silver fox, is a dude and lives next door with his wife Nelly. They are smiley and kind. On the other side is another elderly family who are often pottering about in their garden or walking the dog. The old lady of the house is sweet and lovely, and told us how they call the area the Monte, which basically translates to being a hamlet on a hill. The monte is also inhabited, like most of the Eastern Algarve, by a couple of barking dogs and a cock-a-doodle-dooing rooster, which all adds to the rural charm.

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But we didn’t leave that holiday with the plan to buy a house in the region. That came down to our mild addiction to A Place In the Sun to trigger this concept one lazy Sunday. A feature on the Eastern Algarve showed examples of houses that fitted within our modest budget. This and the lingering joy of our time at Fazenda Nova just clicked, and the let’s-buy-a-house-in-Portugal adventure started right there. Inevitably, once we decided to take the plunge, hours and hours of research ensued. Our chosen agent, Russell & Decoz in Moncarpacho, were great, and helped us find what was billed simply as ‘Quatrim Quinta’, and by winter 2013 it was ours, which was pretty surreal and massively exciting!

The house is made up in three parts, the original two room Quinta dates back over 100 years. That had an extension built onto it sometime in the eighties, which included the ‘armazém’ (shed / garage). To be honest, it was a bit of an ugly duckling, with uninspiring décor. It definitely wasn’t an obvious buy, or ready-made holiday home, and some vision was needed to sense it’s full potential. But we had the faith and felt that we’d landed ourselves a real bargain, and off we went. We met our builder, Martins, and he has been fantastic and a joy to work with and has made it all possible. Lovely bloke, fairly priced, completely honest and efficient and we love him!

The lounge, before & after

The kitchen, before & after

The diner, before & after. Those sofas just had to go!

We broke ground on the pool in January 2015, and at the time we didn’t really have a clue what to do with the rest of the garden, until Tim stepped in. Having created the most beautiful gardens at Fazenda Nova, we bit his hand off when he offered to help. And help he has! He’s been an absolute star, masterminding the landscaping, tricky ground work, and a great team of guys  and we are over moon with the results, finishing bang on schedule for opening in June 2015. Thanks to Norberto & Sergio for some seriously hard grafting, and to Ed Benson and the decking dudes, Nico & Nelson, and Martins and his calçada crew. We now have a garden, and we love it!

Fi & Tim

The garden, before & after

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