The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Wednesday September 3rd — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Wednesday September 3rd — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Wednesday September 3rd — —

Casas na Areia

What started as the creation of a weekend house of architect Manuel Aires Mateus ended as one of the most beautiful retreats we have seen in a long time, named Casas na Areia, located one hour south of Lisbon, in Comporta, Portugal. The beautiful region is known for the magnificent white sandy beaches, the wine, fresh fish, the rice paddies and the pine trees. It’s integrated on the natural reserve of river Sado, home to a great variety of wild life such as flamingos, storks and dolphins, but also one of the best places in Portugal for bird watching, with 100 different species to be seen in just 1 day. Next to this, the design of Casas Na Areia is simply mind-blowing, making it the perfect place to forget about everything and find peace of mind.

When people are there and walk on the sandy floors, they’re not able to walk as fast as on normal ground, so it winds them down. And being around the natural buildings, it tends to connect you with nature.

When the decision was made to erupt Casas na Areia as a place for lodging, Aires Mateus had the clear aim to prevail the ‘soul’ of the pre-existent constructions and respect the local traditions, which eventually made him decide to create four separate houses which were constructed by António Pinela, a local artisan; two of wood and reeds which also feature the fascinating sandy floors, and for those who prefer a bit more luxury the other two houses were made in white concrete. All the buildings were made with thatched roofs; local material harvested on the banks of river Sado underlining the respect one finds in the designs of Aires Mateus towards the context in which he created this project of utmost beauty.

We love this perfect retreat and can’t wait to visit!

For more information and to make a reservation see here.