Presentation

The global world has methods of work and a way of life that have become unbearable for me.

In early 2014, beeing 60 years old, after more than 30 years in IT, the time had come to do something else, to take the time to live according to my own desires and to share with my friends or family members this aproche of life.

For about 5 years, I organized a sort of self-financed pre-retirement, and I searched a place to practice my passions: architecture, agriculture and social action. I planned to stop working and to move to the Mozambique Island, Unesco heritage in need of a serious help to try to repair the damage of a few years civil war. But some stupid guys restarted to bang on and reject or kidnap foreigners. My family was scared, and I started looking for an alternative.

I was looking for sunshine, a place to do agriculture and build a house with my hands, apart from stressful aggression and mass tourism. Reflecting well, the region of Alentejo seemed to me to correspond to the basic criteria. And, looking for properties to buy, I found an olive grove, on sale for 3 years because of the portuguese economical crisis. After a few weeks of negotiations, a visit on the spot allowed us to confirm this choice, to sign the promise to purchase and start the first restoration work of the olive grove, whose trees were no longer cut since almost 20 years.

      

This first visit also allowed me to start imaginating the various components of the project and then my 2 month stay during the hottest season put me well in front of the specific difficulties of the region. It is the Portugal hottest area, the temperature during the summer goes well beyond 30 degrees and nights can be quite chilly (as in the desert). In this region, the risk of fire is such that some activities with agricultural machinery are banned from June to September, and the wooden houses can not be insured. Thats why I renounced to build the house and farm in wood structure, and fall back on more traditional construction methods.

We cuted over 500 olive trees, some figs, almonds and pear trees, have opened 3 holes to find enough water, have created a white marble path with more than 700 meters, at the same time as we were planting new trees, building a fence for the future henhouses and building the first bungalow.

      

      

 

A permaculture vegetable garden and an orchard have been installed after the fencing which protects the central part of the ground while leaving a path of 2 or 3 meters wide for walking or rides with bikes or poneis.

We created a small lagoon integrated in a recycling water system using aquatic plants, connected the property to the electrical network and installed electrical outlets and faucets every 50 meters.

Near the lagoon, we built a pergola with bathrooms connected to a septic tank integrated with the water recycling system.

      

      

Near the creek that travels the property and who only has water when it rains hard enough, we built a house on a oak with a bathroom incorporated in the staircase.

      

      

After having canceled the project of building a villa in the center of the land, we bought a typical Alentejo house to renovate, transform the annexes into 2 bedrooms for rent with a shared bathroom and have added a small pool accessible to all users of the property.

      

     

A reception, a few strategically placed parking spaces, decorative gardens, an good wood oven, a shelter for the sheep and the pony have come to complete the necessary infrastructures so that our clients can have fun by staying a few days with us.

      

      

 

Lastly, our 6600 foot vineyard was partially grafted with 5 grapes sorts that will allow us to enjoy the generosity of the nature of this region.

      

 

If the images you can view in the PICTURES page inspire you, contact us.