Villa Lumi

A Design Villa within Reach of Comporta and Melides

With its floor-to-ceiling glass walls, its 20-meter infinity pool, a private gym and a dedicated yoga platform, this sleek, five-bedroom, six-bathroom retreat spans 400 square meters and overlooks a wildlife encircled lake in the fertile swath of the Alentejo coast between hip Comporta and Melides. It’s a 20-minute drive from the villa to the beach, but you could also elect to stay at home and enjoy the luxurious outdoors from the hilltop yoga platform, the long, lounger-lined pool terrace, or the home’s covered patios.

Layout

The home’s bedrooms come with private en-suite bathrooms and are all bathed in natural light from oversized windows overlooking the Alentejo Serra. The super-king primary suite has an en-suite bathroom, offering a deep soaking tub with a view. There are two additional king rooms (one with an extra single) and two more rooms with two single beds each.

Common areas are equally generous, with dining and living room lounge seating for 10 and the state-of-the-art, Technogym-equipped fitness room. The kitchen is chef-quality, with a pair of fridges, freezers and ovens, in addition to an outdoor dishwasher and fridge joining the alfresco barbecue and plancha area.

Experiences

An on-site property manager is on hand to assist with grocery shopping, reservations and organizing optional services, which include private chef service, yoga instruction, in-home massage therapy, tennis and paddle coaching reservations.

Recommended activities nearby include horseback riding on the beach, kayaking in the rice paddy canals, surfing, bodyboarding or SUPing with local instruction and rentals, dolphin watching via catamaran in the Sado Estuary, yoga and meditation sessions in the fertile rice fields, and a visit to the Badoca Safari Park, a wildlife reserve about 30 minutes’ drive from the villa.

Around

The fertile, unspoiled region offers much to experience, from the greater Herdade de Comporta, a zone of rice paddies and the wetlands of the Sado Nature Reserve to dune-backed beaches flanked by rice paddies. Pego Beach offers sun seekers a remote-feeling, four-kilometer stretch of golden sand surrounded by a pine forest nearby with a destination restaurant for those in the know. Sal Restaurant on Pego is a family-run domain of grilled fish and freshly caught seafood. Dolphins jump in the waters offshore, and the waves make the entire region a surfing hotspot for pros and beginners alike, well-served by surf schools and local guiding companies.

Nearby Comporta has become a favorite playground of hip global nomads who’ve ridden in on the coattails of fashion designers, international architects, entrepreneurial urbanites, and modern art collectors. Comporta is well loved for its easygoing elegance and artisanal boutiques, lively galleries and handful of cute cafes. And Melides, also nearby, has become a favorite of design-conscious shoppers who delight in the burgeoning selection of galleries, studios and carefully curated boutiques. This mostly unspoiled region remains undeniably beautiful—a green landscape of vineyards and cork oak fields, rice paddies and groves of glinting olive and orange trees. Storks’ nests watch over quiet cobbled villages, and the region has historically been more agricultural than touristy. Lovers of the laid-back and rugged will thrill with horseback rides along the rolling surf, and the area’s golden sands extend for miles, backed by dunes, cliffs, and wind-sculpted pines and the protected lagoons, their waters rich with birds and wildlife, include nearby Lagoa de Santo André and the Lagoa de Melides.

Location

Between Comporta & Melides, Alentejo, Portugal. Nearest airport: Lisbon (1 ½ hours)

Best time to visit

April to October