Before Duarte Caldas, founder and lead architect of Lisbon-based , stepped in to revive an old house the town of Cartaxo, the architectural programme of the building was like a horizontal Jenga tower gone wrong. “It was quite unusual, with exaggerated and disconnected elements and references, which resulted in a rather disjointed composition,” says Duarte.
The architect, alongside project manager Catarina Mascarenhas, and architect colleagues, Mariana Marques and Martin Zeliar, was commissioned by a young Lisbon couple who chanced upon a characterful old house surrounded by the sunny vineyards that inspired them to pack their bags and move away from the city. “Connected to the art world, they wanted to leave the capital and move someplace secluded, where they could implement a programme of artistic residencies,” Duarte explains.
The architect cites the main challenge of the project as landing on “an aesthetic and functional coherence that would realign the existing architectural setting.” The solution, Duarte’s team found, lay in knocking down almost everything. On the outside, the low walls and paved walkways were eliminated, openings were redesigned and the facade was textured in shades of beige and white that helped distinguish the various volumes. As for the existing water mirror, it was magicked into a swimming pool to serve as an antidote to the Portuguese sun.
“It was named ‘A Saramaga’,” says Duarte, “A name thoughtfully bestowed on the property as a way of paying tribute to a former midwife in the town, whose image was taken up by the local community as a symbol of birth and the celebration of life.” Step inside and his words find meaning in the fact that the sunlight never really seems to end. Not in the living room, nor in the kitchen. Nor even in the deepest bedroom corners. Every room is swathed in sunset hues, almost as if the sun landed and decided never to leave. The home’s easy-breezy identity is furthered by the way the rooms are furnished: Paintings lie casually propped on the floor, walls are left bare, and light-toned timber (across rafters and furniture) nods to the natural light.
By the time you circle back to the living room, you feel like you’ve taken a saunter through a quirky little art gallery with a larger-than-life personality. “The wooden beams on the ceiling provide a more welcoming scale to the space and support the skylights that bring in the natural light. Below the skylights, a concrete platform with different levels incorporates a sitting area, a long coffee table, and a plant pot that brings a touch of natural vegetation to the space. A large table in natural red travertine stone was also designed, reaffirming the proportion of the space,” describes Duarte.
With the sun here, there and everywhere, The Beatles’ ‘Here Comes the Sun’ could easily be the home’s official anthem.
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