It all begins with an idea.
Back in 2017 a friend told me about his crazy, but very exciting, foreign property dream project, which he had started the year before.
In 2018 I went out to visit the property helping do a few jobs there & I visited another house that someone else he knew was buying at the time.
The seed was sown!
Could I do this?
I visited my friends property again July 2019 whilst on holiday in Portugal with my family and it was exciting to show them his Casa & the general area.
Then the pandemic hit and the world stopped spinning!
Fast forward to March 2023 I was invited back to view my friends property again and also see the other property and the developments there. During this visit I decided I had to do something similar so set about searching for a property myself and by February 2024 I was sitting in a small office in Portugal signing the Deeds to the new property (an old, disused farm or ‘fazenda’) with my wife & daughter. I’ve always believed that anything is possible and that dreams can be realised - but it takes action, money, belief & determination. Now the hard work begins of renovating the Casa and I hope to share that journey here. Project Portugal is live!
The first 2 trips this year focussed on repairing a hole in the wall at the back and sealing the leaky roof, plus opening the main barn doors so cars can be parked inside & deliveries of building materials made easier; for which the rotting lintels had to be removed.
Next trip was focussed on painting the frontage & making 1 room inside habitable, so further trips I might actually stay there. We achieved this plus got the electric meter installed & connected up to a consumer unit with a couple of sockets and lights - we are alight!
This room is only a temporary upgrade so don’t expect it look normal.
The last trip this year will be to really sort out and tidy up the interior grounds/gardens and hopefully (fingers crossed) get the mains water supply connected finally. Everything has been put in place internally by my amazing local builder friends so its all down to the local water people now.
Squeezed an extra trip into November 2024 and we stayed 2 nights in the palace. The water is running and we got the big main room started by taking out the partition wall and removing the ceiling inside to expose a much bigger barn room. Very happy.
Below are a few photos to help build the picture - it’s all a work in progress - but it’s all getting done in the sun!
