A Portuguese country house with a fresh, modern decor
Whitewashed walls, bamboo ceilings, vintage textiles: this Portuguese country house embodies a rural way of life
First, you have to climb. The road winds its way up through cork oaks and olive trees, passes through a nature reserve, and opens onto a plateau where the sky stretches out wide. It is there, on a hill above Loulé and São Brás de Alportel in the Algarve, that Monte da Palmeira stands.
This Portuguese country house with a pool is a rural retreat full of lovely things.
Its owner, Antonia, did it all herself. No interior designer, her natural talent for decorating was enough to create the home as we see it today. Just years of travel and a keen eye for objects with a story. The walls are thick, whitewashed, and chalk-colored, and the ceilings have retained their original bamboo, arranged in regular rows. This interplay between the raw structure and the pieces brought back from sometimes distant lands gives the place a real personality.
In the living room, an armchair draped in striped fabrics sits alongside woven straw mats on the floor. No two rooms are alike. The bedrooms play with distinct color palettes: blue and yellow in one, white and blue in the master bedroom on the top floor. From the bed, you can see the hill, the tree canopy, and on a clear day, a silver line on the horizon. The sea. The kitchen retains a charm that is both rustic and retro, with its hand-painted ceramic tiles, stone countertops, and deliberately mismatched tableware.
Outside, the garden is as much an orchard as it is a park. Fig, lemon, pomegranate, and almond trees: the fruits change with the seasons, but the bounty of the place remains constant. The pool opens onto an unobstructed view. There’s no need to overdo it. The surroundings do the work.
This house, Monte da Palmeira, is a perfect example of the beauty found in imperfect things. No overly polished finishes. Deliberate imperfections in the plaster, a patina on the woodwork, a half-burned candle on the mantelpiece. It’s imperfect, yes, but controlled, warm, and welcoming. It’s exactly the kind of interior that makes you want to settle in for the long haul.
This Portuguese country house in the Algarve is available to rent by clicking this link
This Portuguese country house with a pool is a rural retreat full of lovely things.
The story of Monte da Palmeira
Its owner, Antonia, did it all herself. No interior designer, her natural talent for decorating was enough to create the home as we see it today. Just years of travel and a keen eye for objects with a story. The walls are thick, whitewashed, and chalk-colored, and the ceilings have retained their original bamboo, arranged in regular rows. This interplay between the raw structure and the pieces brought back from sometimes distant lands gives the place a real personality.
The home’s decor
In the living room, an armchair draped in striped fabrics sits alongside woven straw mats on the floor. No two rooms are alike. The bedrooms play with distinct color palettes: blue and yellow in one, white and blue in the master bedroom on the top floor. From the bed, you can see the hill, the tree canopy, and on a clear day, a silver line on the horizon. The sea. The kitchen retains a charm that is both rustic and retro, with its hand-painted ceramic tiles, stone countertops, and deliberately mismatched tableware.
In the garden
Outside, the garden is as much an orchard as it is a park. Fig, lemon, pomegranate, and almond trees: the fruits change with the seasons, but the bounty of the place remains constant. The pool opens onto an unobstructed view. There’s no need to overdo it. The surroundings do the work.
This house, Monte da Palmeira, is a perfect example of the beauty found in imperfect things. No overly polished finishes. Deliberate imperfections in the plaster, a patina on the woodwork, a half-burned candle on the mantelpiece. It’s imperfect, yes, but controlled, warm, and welcoming. It’s exactly the kind of interior that makes you want to settle in for the long haul.
This Portuguese country house in the Algarve is available to rent by clicking this link
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