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Quinta do Marmelete
Santo André, Alentejo, Portugal
Quinta do Marmelete
Santo André, Alentejo, Portugal
Traditional Farm Turned “Resting Place”
Five minutes outside the village of Deixa-o-Resto, which loosely translates as “keep the rest,” this former farm on six acres puts a focus on rest and relaxation. The traditional rammed earth structure’s rural locale means slow living comes easily, and elegant interior furnishings, a genteel covered porch with rockers and armchairs, and a shallow dipping pool elevate the rural structure from farmhouse to serene modern retreat.
With its arching accent windows and panoramic panes, this one-time working farm insulated by an orchard has been elegantly updated into a pretty, sophisticated getaway, with easy access to some of the Alentejo’s best unspoiled beaches. São Torpes welcomes surfers. Carvalhal features a rich natural reserve. And Melides and Comporta have become the “it” villages of the fashionable jet set.
Back home, soothing walls rise from smooth wood and polished concrete floors, raw ceiling beams soar exposed overhead, and refined furnishings invite unwinding and “forgetting about the rest”—another possible translation of the sleepy small town’s name.
AROUND
Located south of Lisbon along a rugged and relatively deserted stretch of the Atlantic, the Alentejo Coast of Setubal province offers a world of vineyards, rice paddies, and cork oak groves that crisscross low-lying fields and rolling dunes. Inland, the higher altitude relief of the Serra de Grândola features single track trails, gurgling streams and a 19-kilometer circular route, the Vereda de Melides. The well-heeled nearby villages of Comporta and Melides are home to shops, cafes, and restaurants, and the pretty villas of the rich and famous. A land of decided contrasts, the Alentejo still offers simple coastal cafes serving grilled sardines, and uncrowded beaches with big waves for surfing. Lovers of the laid-back and rugged will thrill with horseback rides along the rolling surf, and beaches extending for miles offer an abundance of outdoor recreation activities.
Golden sands along this part of the coast are backed by dunes and cliffs, beaches that welcome big rolling waves and crashing surf. Don't miss Praia da Galé-Fontainhas, Praia da Comporta and the Praia da Melides. The area is also home to protected lagoons, their striped turquoise and royal blue waters rich with birds and wildlife, among them the protected Lagoa de Santo André and the Lagoa de Melides. Hikers should head inland to the vigorous Rota da Serra de Grândola, a well-marked trail that circles through a massive cork-oak forest and over hills crisscrossed by streams and village ruins in the rugged Serra de Grândola range.
LOCATION
Santo André, Alentejo, Portugal. Nearest airport: Lisbon (2 hours)
BEST TIME TO VISIT: April to October
