Quinta da Lameirinha
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Quinta da Lameirinha is a completely new build – a faked likeness of the robust rural architecture which once defined the sleepy rural town of Baiao. Standing guard at its rear, a traditional ‘espigueiro’ granary betrays the buildings true origins: roll the clock back a hundred years, and this was the mill which ground the wheat, rye, and barley for the farmers of the surrounding Ovil River Valley.
The quinta’s modern-day custodian is Vania Monteiro, granddaughter of the original millers. Her carefully considered reimagining of the property has preserved the character of the mill, and its impressive patchworks of exposed granite are a feature of both the inside and out. A contemporary two-story annex also helps to soften any separation between the peaceful private garden, the open-plan kitchen diner on the ground floor, and the master bedroom with its broad balcony on the 1st floor.
The covered outdoor dining area, the heated swimming pool, and the sunken firepit are where you’ll inevitably spend most of your lazy days. Evenings are often spent flitting from kitchen, to dining table, to sofa, and back again – you’ll wish you had an equally-sociable family space once you return home. Bedrooms are on the 1st floor: the aforementioned master balcony bedroom, a second smaller double, and two twin rooms – these latter three bedrooms all have direct access to a shared ‘upper garden’ and a fledgling orchard of lemon trees. There are three shared bathrooms in total, one upstairs, two downstairs: all with walk-in showers.
The nearby town of Baiao is relatively unknown outside of Portugal – writer Eca de Queiroz immortalised the region in his 1901 homage to reconnecting with nature: The City and the Mountains. Very little has changed over the past 100-plus years, and that’s entirely Baiao’s charm. A short drive south and you’ll drop into the celebrated Douro Valley – the River Douro and its Bestanca tributary merge at Porto Antigo, creating a hot spot for water sports, and heading upriver will bring you to the celebrated port wineries of Peso da Regua. To the north, the picturesque riverfront town of Amarante is forty-minute drive away, with historic Guimaraes beyond, and the bright lights of Porto are an hour’s drive to the west.
