Casa Acima

An Alentejo Farmhouse Redesigned for Slow Living

Step inside this home’s handcrafted wooden entrance door and into its vivid contemporary interior, and a rural calm pervades within its original taipa walls. A traditional Alentejo farmhouse that’s been modernized for 21st-century slow living, it has at its heart an open kitchen with a sleek island and indoor/outdoor dining rooms, which make the perfect starting point for low-key gathering. A family room stretches out alongside it, a casual spot punctuated by a brick fireplace atop concrete floors and mostly unadorned (and occasionally exposed) original plaster walls. The home’s three bedrooms are bright, with big windows and glazed doors, and simple built-in vanities in their modern ensuite baths.

The farmhouse’s outdoor areas have been dressed up from busy farm spots to areas for lazy unwinding. There’s bench seating under a shade tree and a poolscape with countryside views. A shade structure helps beat the inland heat, and a sweet, flowering courtyard garden adds to the allure.

Around

A 10-minute drive from the town of Cruz de João Mendes within the Serra de Grândola region of coastal Alentejo, the property has no neighbors, offering complete privacy. South of the property, the village of Santiago do Cacem dates from Roman times, and there are ruins nearby at Miróbriga, with a hippodrome, agricultural buildings, houses with mural paintings, and a stunning intact forum and public bath. Red-tiled roofs rise from the Santiago do Cacem's hilltop location, which saw the Visigoths and Moors occupy the region after the fall of the Romans. The town’s main attraction is its magnificent, crenellated fortress, a 10-towered castle that dominates the hilltop and dates from Moorish times, though is mostly medieval architecture.

The town of Sines is nearby as well, famed as the birthplace of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama. It's a fishing village with a 15th-century fortified castle and a handful of Atlantic beaches surrounding it. The town’s fishing port is still a working site, known for its daily catch of dourada (sea bass). The nearby harbor of Porto Covo is an influencer’s dream, a pretty seaside town known for its whitewashed single-story homes. Porto Covo's Grande Beach is a popular sunning spot, and the Praia do Buizinhos is a beautiful cove hemmed in by rugged cliffs. Get there for unforgettably pretty sunsets.

Inland, the Serra de Grândola that encompasses the property is home to one of Portugal’s greatest cork oak forests. There’s a trans-Alentejo hiking path known as the Rota da Serra de Grândola, circling through the massive forest and over hills and rushing streams. For urban action, head to hip Comporta and cool Melides, both coastal playgrounds for global nomads, haute fashionistas and the remote working jetset who have transformed the fishing villages into boutique, gallery, and café-clustered streets that are fun for browsing.

Location

Nearest airport: Lisbon (1.5 hours)

Best time to visit

Year-round