Looking at rentals in Portugal is both fascinating and amusing.
Some of the homes I am most drawn to look like something out of The Flintstones. One of my favorites has a giant boulder attached to its side, and I’m not sure whether the stone cottage in question was built with that in mind (as in, yeah, that boulder would make a good side of a house, let’s build there!) or it was just an added bonus (look ma, a rock!).
Of course, there are no photos of the inside of this fortress? castle? manor? but there are plenty of good views of the countryside that go with the big rock.
My understanding is that stone homes like these are wonderful in the summer (instant air conditioning) and damp and depressing in the winter (do you like living in a cave?). But I can’t help but being drawn to historic homes.
When I gave our team in Portugal a list of our “needs” and “wants” about housing, I put down a detached home with a garden that allows pets and has good energy efficiency for “needs” and "preferably close to either the beach or hiking” for wants. I also put down “anywhere in Portugal” so that we could compete with what seems to be a very competitive rental market.But here’s the thing, my housing preferences lean toward “character” and away from “modern.” If you drop me off in any college town in the U.S. I would instantly want to live in a Craftsman or Victorian home a block from campus with a large library nearby. Having remodeled a 1918 home (which was originally a Sears Kit home), I can tell you that historic homes take a lot of TLC, but I do appreciate their character and charm over the cookie cutter boringness of most modern American homes.
Portugal’s historic homes, however, are likely to be next level from what we can find here. Let me give you an example.
When we first started looking online for housing we chose a northern city called Ponte de Lima, the oldest chartered town in Portugal. It was founded in 1125. It’s also a point on the historic pilgrimage trail of El Camino Santiago.
But just take that in for a moment. 1125. A.D.!
That is 367 years before Columbus reached America. And you know how I know that? Because of a rhyme. Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.
Columbus also married a Portuguese noblewoman and lived in Lisbon for several years. Just a random fact for you that I learned on Wikipedia. I’ve heard real estate in Portugal called “the Wild West” by Americans in online forums and I'm truly puzzled by this. Lack of laws and regulations? This seems like a country that loves paperwork.
Could they be referring to the amount of bartering that goes into housing? Because unlike in the U.S., I’ve been told that there is a fair amount of negotiation that goes into even rental contracts there.
I don’t know, but back to Ponte de Lima. Here’s an example of a historic home we found there.
I’m imagining myself in the pool, looking up at the tower wall, wondering when the next Monty Python remake will be filmed there.
The description of this place put anything I’ve read from American real estate to shame.Torre de Refoios is located in Ponte de Lima, in the valley of the beautiful village of Refoios. It preserves the legends and romanticism of almost a thousand years of history. The magnificent view from this sec. XII allows you to enjoy a peaceful, silent rural landscape with an almost medieval appearance. Next to the Tower, experience the cozy atmosphere of the rustic apartments prepared to welcome you.Feel nature, take a dip in the pool or stroll through the fields where vines, fruit or cereals are cultivated. Rest a few kilometers from the beach, the river and the Peneda-Gerês Mountain.
I mean, really. My husband is all worried about whether there is a working stove or not in the kitchen, and I’m like, “Who cares! It has the original stones from a thousand years ago!”How much money are they asking for this little beauty? 1100 Euros per month. Which, right now, is about equivalent to U.S. dollars. I think that’s a great deal. Could we find a modern apartment that is much, much less expensive than this? Yes, we could. I’ve found apartments for as low as 350 Euros per month, that looked quite nice. They might be located a long distance from Lisbon, but they would suffice as far as living quarters if it was only us. I’ve also found some incredible island rentals on the islands of Madeira and the Azores, which I am totally tempted by, and Doug is like, “You want me to move to an island? I think that is a little extreme.”
I realize that the romantic ideal is rarely ideal in real life, meaning that practicalities like dishwashers and modern heating really do matter on a day to day basis, but there is something urging me to throw caution to the wind and just embrace a peculiar form of a house, even if it seems like a completely eccentric choice.
Perhaps it’s because the more I fall into the same habitual patterns here, the more I realize I need variety in my life, and though a different way of living will undoubtedly be challenging, it will be good for my soul. We shall see. P.S. If you’re curious where I’m doing most of my house hunting, it’s on idealista.pt, though in future posts I’ll list a bunch of other sites I’m using as well. P.P.S. Also, if you’d like to follow us in video format, I’ve got a YouTube channel going called “Today, In the Garden” and I posted the latest one yesterday from our home in Montana. Click here to take a look.
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