Spring-fed pool
22 metres, unheated, in the shade of the north wall from one o'clock.
Alentejo · Portugal
A house cut from the same stone
Eighteen rooms in a farmhouse above the Alqueva, rebuilt around its own courtyard. Walls a metre thick, floors of local schist, and a sky certified dark enough to read a star chart by.
Open all year · Two-night minimum
- 38.4436° N — 7.3806° W
- 214 metres above the reservoir
- Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve
03
The house
Eighteen rooms, one long wall
The farm was built in 1782 and worked until 1994. What survived was the north wall — forty metres of whitewashed rubble stone, a metre thick at the base, with the original threshing floor still legible in front of it.
We kept the wall and built everything else against it. Rooms open east, into the courtyard, so the first hour of light arrives before the heat does. The old grain store is now the dining room; its ceiling is the only thing in the house we did not touch.
Built
1782, rebuilt 2021–2023
Architect
Estúdio Vãos, Évora
Rooms
18, of which 4 with private courtyard
Walls
Rubble stone and lime, 60–110 cm
Open
All year
04 The rooms
Four ways to sleep here
Every room faces the courtyard or the water. None of them faces the road.
05 The day here
An hour at a time, from first light
Nothing on this list is scheduled. It is simply what the light does, and what we tend to do about it.
- 06:52 First light reaches the east wall. The courtyard is the warmest place on the property for about forty minutes.
- 08:30 Breakfast under the fig. Bread from Reguengos, figs from the tree above your head, eggs from the farm at São Pedro.
- 13:10 The pool goes into the shade of the north wall. This is when people read.
- 17:00 The horses come down to the water. You can see them from the terrace without walking anywhere.
- 19:40 Sunset off the reservoir. Twenty minutes longer than it should be, because the water keeps it.
- 22:15 The Milky Way clears the ridge. We turn the courtyard lights off at eleven, and it makes a difference you can see.
Times shown are for late September.
06 What is here
Everything you need, once
We would rather do six things properly than list thirty.
The table
One dinner service, one menu, 20:00. Written each morning after the market.
Cellar
Ninety Alentejo labels, half of them from within thirty kilometres.
Observatory
A 130 mm refractor on the threshing floor, and someone who knows how to point it.
Horses
Four, at the farm next door. Rides at first light and at six.
Quiet
No televisions, no piped music, no events. This is a policy, not an oversight.
07 The property
Stone, water, and the sky
Photographed across one year, without styling.
08 In figures
The house, measured
- 18 Rooms
- 1782 The year of the wall
- 214 m Above the reservoir
- 21.6 Sky brightness, mag/arcsec²
A sky darker than 21.5 is the threshold for a Dark Sky Reserve. Ours is measured from the threshing floor, monthly.
09 Staying longer
Rates and arrangements
Booked directly, always. There is no channel on which this is cheaper.
New Moon Nights
Three nights · Nov–Feb
The three darkest nights of each month, with the observatory and someone who knows how to point it.
from €640
DetailsThe Long Week
Seven nights · All year
Seven nights, the seventh at no charge, and the car left exactly where you parked it.
from €1,340
DetailsHarvest Table
Two nights · September
Two nights in September, dinner both evenings, and a morning at the press in Monsaraz.
from €520
Details10 Guests
What people say afterwards
We came for two nights and rebooked from the room. It is the only hotel I have stayed in where the building is quieter than the countryside around it.
The dinner is one menu and you eat what the market had. Ours was tomato, then lamb, then a fig tart that arrived whole. Nobody asked us about allergies twice.
I have never seen the Milky Way properly. At 11 pm they switch the courtyard off and it is simply there, over the wall, like weather.
11 Finding us
Further than it looks
The last four kilometres are a dirt track. It is passable in any car, slowly, and it is the reason the sky is what it is.
Address
Rruga Pavaresia Nr 54 Plazh/Durres
Telephone
+351 266 000 000
Coordinates
38.4436° N — 7.3806° W
We send precise directions with your confirmation. Satellite navigation puts you in a field.
Lisbon airport
168 km · 1 h 50
Évora
42 km · 40 min
Monsaraz
11 km · 15 min
Spanish border
24 km · 25 min
Nearest streetlight
6 km
12 Before you book
The questions we are asked
Two nights, all year, and three over the new moon in winter. The drive is long enough that one night is a disservice to both of us.
Yes, and the Grain Loft is built for them. We ask that the courtyard stays quiet after ten, which most families find easier here than at home.
Yes. There is no bus, and taxis will not take the track after dark. We can arrange a driver from Évora or the airport with a day's notice.
One menu, four courses, 20:00, €58. Written in the morning after the Reguengos market. Tell us at breakfast if you are eating with us; tell us when you book about anything you cannot eat.
No. It is spring-fed and sits at about 19° in summer, which is colder than you expect and better than you expect.
On the first Friday of each month, for twelve people, by arrangement. Write to us.
13 Journal
Notes from the house
The fig tree is two weeks, not a season
The tree over the breakfast table gives fruit for about fourteen days a year. Planning around it is reasonable.
What the market had, week of 14 September
Six menus, written on the board, reproduced here for the people who asked.
The lights go off at eleven
Why the courtyard is dark from eleven, and what it took to get the neighbours to agree.
Reservations
Come in September
The heat has gone, the water is still warm, and the Milky Way is overhead by ten. It is the best month here and we will tell you so even when we are full.