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A Renaissance Piazza – Contemporary Portuguese Minimalism

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Here’s a lovely house in Portugal from Intergaup with the timeless serenity of a Fra Angelico piazza in a Renaissance painting.

The design pays homage to traditions that go back to medieval architecture.

Traditional materials like the terracotta tile roofline integrate the house into its rural context near Villa Boim.

Blending strict traditions with a contemporary architectonic approach results in beautiful and almost surreal spaces.

The body of water, the retaining wall and the stair exemplifies the drawing and the purity in the details,.

The main house has only one floor in a “U” shape. The U has its back facing against the slope, creating an inner courtyard.

The view from each angle is perfection.

Yet the plan shows no indication that every view is perfectly drawn.

An iconic white stairway connects the courtyard to the higher ground above the house on the hillside.

Rustic twigs provide protection and shade from the hot Portuguese sun.

The deeply shadowed interiors stay cool the old fashioned way.

A dark interior with stone floors provides relief from the blazing heat outside.

In the kitchen an equally cool concrete is honed to a sheen for practical hardwearing floors offset by rich wood in the sumptuous island.

Wooden shutters also update ancient traditions in the ultra-contemporary spacious kitchen.

Similarly wooden shutters are also employed to keep the climate at bay in the pure and austere bedrooms.

Textural pleasures abound, with traditional basketry balancing the sheen of slate flooring and the soft wood timbers supporting the plasterwork.

The patina of a bold slab of rustic concrete contrasts against a glossy white porcelain sink.

Surprisingly, a small controlled lawn of wet green grass greets you once oustide the dry red courtyard.

But that is a cultivated anomaly in this arid farming region where cows sheep and pigs are raised.

The delightful house is located in an agricultural land in Alentejo which is primarily composed by soft rolling hills and plains, with cork oaks and olive trees, or the occasional vine.