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| ethical accommodation |
Quinta do Barranco da Estrada
property description: A Portuguese Paradise.....
A small intimate retreat for peace and relaxation. Traditional hospitality & international home
cooking to a high standard. A beautiful lakeside location with watersports,
birdwatching and alternative therapies. Surrounded by wild, untouched countryside with a wide variety of wildlife & rare birds.
accommodation & facilities: 6 double en suite bedrooms
1 ensuite triple room Drawing room with bar and log fire Breakfast, lunch, & dinner available Secluded lawns and terraces Two acres of terraced fruit and flower gardens. The whole Quinta leads onto the lake with stunning
views over one of
Europe ’s largest and cleanest fresh water lakes.
Ideal for:
The Quinta provides a flexible personalised service,
which enjoys responding to individual needs.
activities: Walking - A vast sparsely populated countryside
dotted with small Alentejan "montes" set amidst hillsides of
cork trees awaits all walkers.
Wildlife - The local area is a haven for wildlife of
all descriptions including many rare species like Black winged Kits, Great
and Little Bustards, Bee-eaters and Corn-buntings. Guided
Nature walks and Birdwatching tours are a speciality. Boating - Exploring the lake by canoe, rowing boat,
sailing dinghy or small out-board. Swimming - The unpolluted crystal clear waters of
the lake are a rare luxury. Mountain biking - The numerous tracks and absence of
traffic provide the ultimate thrill for serious mountain bikers. Fishing - An excellent sport fishing opportunity. Cooking - The Quinta is renowned for its
cuisine. On request vegetarian food, which we prepare with as
many fresh and vegetables and fruits from our organic garden, is
available.
location:
Location: Baixo Alentejo , Portugal. As the crow
flies, 35 km from the West coast and 50 km from the South.
a brief history: The buildings at Quinta do Barranco da Estrada have all been built since the
lake was made in 1969. The first building was raised in '74. This original
wooden construction is now part of the Quinta's private rooms but includes
also 3 centrally heated guest rooms. Several years later the property was sold and the
new owner built another two pre-fab wooden buildings, of which the first
is now part of the Drawing Room/Kitchen while the second makes up seven of
our Guest's bedrooms. .
Frank, originally a Despatch Rider by profession,
first came to Portugal over Christmas '86, fell in love with the country
and decided to move here. He returned in April of '87, and first found the
Quinta in July. At this point there was no access, and with no garden
apart from a couple of cacti, it really was a few shacks in the middle of
nowhere, but he saw the potential and had bought it by September. He
returned during August to the UK to pack his possessions into a Double
Decker bus, with which he pretended to tour the world in order to
"import" his belongings to his new home.
With the help of friends and his first employees
here, Antonio the Gardener and Ana Paula the maid, the Quinta opened its
doors to its first guests during the Spring of '88. Since that first
opening, the business that the Quinta generates has fuelled its expansion,
and it has never received a grant or financial assistance of any kind from
either the EU or the Portuguese state.
There was no construction or re-construction of any
buildings until '91, as the new owner concentrated on making a garden.
This was complicated by various catastrophes such as landslides etc and a
total lack of finance, so most work was done manually. With no electricity
to speak of it was pointless having electrical machines anyway, and his
tool chest when he arrived contained only a drill and a set of motor-cycle
spanners. Today the Quinta employs a full-time gardener and
produces a wide range of vegetables and fruits which are processed or
preserved in the Quintas´s kitchen. The buildings, (parts of which by now were over
seventeen years old), were still illegal, having been constructed
clandestinely and in wood and therefore "temporary". Since '87
the new owners had been trying to get planning permission in order to
legalise the property, and after some initial
"misunderstandings" this was granted in '93, and legal building
could commence. Obviously there were some alterations prior to the
formal granting of the building license, and since '91 the main
construction of the Quinta as it now appears has been taking place; a
workshop, underpinning the original building, re-plumbing throughout and
construction of waste disposal system, bathrooms on to every Guest room,
Electrification of the property, Office and Staff Quarters, Extension of
the Drawing Room, Javali and Borbaletta, expansion of the Private side,
Garage and Power complex, Sauna have all been achieved, and in December of
2000 the Quinta was finally given, for the first time, a Licença de
Habitação, the official document that certifies a buildings legal
existence. During this time Portugal itself was changing and
especially the region surrounding the Quinta. The two factors of entry
into the EU and a more stable political climate than that immediately
following the Carnation Revolution of '74 had brought about a blossoming
of the country's economic progress, and it continues to rush wildly
towards the sunlit uplands. For example in '87 an international call,
while relatively without hassle in the more advanced Algarve, could still
take a morning to achieve in this area; (this wasn't helped by the nearest
phone being four kms away). Now, less than fifteen years later, Portugal's
per capita ownership of mobile phones is one of the highest in the world,
and the terrestrial phone service has improved to the point where 90% of
the Quinta's communications are done by email. (The absence of a telephone
here until 1990 made life interesting; during this time, as the track in
to the Quinta stretched, well pot-holed, for thirteen kilometers from the
nearest village, the Quinta's guests used to flash mirrors from the dam
wall to request pick up by boat). The donkey and cart, in '87 the primary source of
transportation in the locality, are now rare; even mopeds are rapidly
giving way to cars. Roads are being built and now there's a motorway
stretching from Lisbon all the way to the Algarve, which has exploded in
the last twenty five years from a forgotten land of sleepy villages to a
villa-encrusted playground. Everywhere there seems to be construction on
an unprecedented scale, renovating and replacing the old and building the
new. Some things never change though and the logistics of the Quinta
remain a juggler's dream, such as the nearest rubbish bin still being two
miles away (with the bottle bank a mere 8), but it’s a big improvement
from the nearest petrol station being an hour and a quarter distant, as it
still was in 1990. In an area which is increasingly economically
depressed and where it's a constant struggle to prevent the young from
fleeing at the first possible opportunity to the big cities, the
Quinta provides primary employment for six local people the whole year
through and is making a valuable
and important contribution to support the local economy in a
secondary capacity. The Quinta has no connection to any state utilities,
generates its own solar power and has its own water and waste disposal
systems. During the 20 years or so of its existence the Quinta has been by Frank whose life-long love of nature and ecological issues has made him an expert on the local Fauna and Flora and specifically anything to do with ornithology. He continues to work towards protecting and preserving this unique country side for future generations.
prices: All prices are quoted in euros All bookings are accepted on a “first come -first served” basis. At the time of booking we ask for a deposit of 25% with a minimum payment of two nights stay. The remaining amount due is to be paid a minimum of eight weeks prior to arrival. In the case of cancellation of dates booked, this is non-refundable and non-transferable. We reserve the right to re-let any room after 16.00 hrs unless previous arrangements have been made. Minimum stay is two nights. Payment can be done to our English Account, to our Portuguese Account or via Paypal. We accept Multibanco.
changeover day: No specific day for change over
contact details: Frank McClintock Quinta do Barranco da Estrada 7665 880 Santa Clara a Velha Portugal Skype:- frankinparadise Tel. (+351) 283 933065
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