Casa Arte

One Part Luxury, One Part Laid-back

Gracefully arching doors, windows, and niches define this whitewashed Algarve home set between a manicured lawn and a luxuriously landscaped garden near Lagos, on Portugal’s Gold Coast. The stately modern villa was love at first sight for its French owners, who have maintained the previous owner’s lush landscaping, with orange, fig, and lemon trees filling the garden and vast poolside. 

The home’s interior styling is “coastal crisp,” with pops of color in tiles, linens, and artworks that enliven the soothing, casual décor. Created for deep leisure, this villa for rent in Portugal offers the perfect place for a large family or group of friends to breathe easily and unwind, capturing the perfect balance of luxury and laid-back living.

From its arched veranda to its whimsical, art-filled arched niches, this modern villa offers an easygoing kind of luxury indoors and out. The styling here is contemporary and clean, with whitewashed interior and exterior walls, and neat, trim landscaping in the structural planters that define outdoor dining and lounging spaces, as well as throughout the generous garden that extends for two acres and includes a manicured green and abundant fruit trees. Spacious is the key word for the living spaces, and there’s a vast sparkling pool anchored by an ancient olive tree with an impressively massive, twisting trunk within reach of the each bedroom’s private terrace.

This area of the Portuguese coast is famed for its dramatic ochre-to-golden cliffs and intimate beach coves. Lagos offers a low-key crowd when there’s a hankering for nightlife or shopping, and the town’s cute, colorful streets are a quick drive away. But really, all you need is this luxurious villa with its ample private terraces outside every room and its exotic, whitewashed exterior, complete with domed towers reminiscent of the Greek isles.

Modern luxury mixed with a distinctly crisp, seaside décor style is on display in each of the home’s six bedrooms, some furnished with king beds, others queen-sized mattresses. The rooms all have en-suite bathrooms, except for one, a shared bath situated between the two “family style” bedrooms, one a parental queen room, the other two singles (or a king). The gracefully arched windows and doorways are also on display in the bedrooms, and crisp white linens keep the look pure and simply luxurious. Baths are elegant and minimal, with concrete basins and rain showers and prestigious Labo products add to the luxurious feel.

The kitchen is hip and familial, ideal for easygoing meals, and the dining table seats 10 comfortably. There are also plentiful outdoor dining areas and an outdoor pizza oven and gas grill to prep hot al fresco favorites poolside.

AROUND

The coastal area around Lagos (8 minute drive) is the least populated part of the Algarve, with active fishing villages and unspoiled beaches tucked into coastal coves. Here, the coast is cliff lined and dramatic, making for great hiking inland above the untamed beaches. A 15-minute drive takes you to Ponte da Piedad, Lagos’ famed rock formations soaring 20 meters above the tricolor blue Atlantic. And another Algarve landmark, the Benagil Cave, is also nearby, with boat tours to it available from Lagos and other nearby villages.

This villa for rent in Portugal also makes recreational options such as golfing and boating available to guests for an additional fee, and the options nearby are abundant.

LOCATION

Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Nearest Airport: Faro (45 minutes), Lisbon (2½ hours)

BEST TIME TO VISIT: April to October for best weather.