Looking at old stone house in central Portugal

Posted By Castelo Construction Lda in Building in Portugal, buying property in portugal, House for sale, refurbishment August 26, 2013 0 comment

If you are enjoying the sunshine you may also be spending some time looking at old stone house in central Portugal.

I love the traditional stone window surrounds that old stone house often have. Very often worn or in poor condition they can add a lot of character into a refurbishment or remodeling project.

In this instance lets look past the window stones and into the house.

fore sale stone house — Old kitchen in an old house

It’s not a cobweb farm !

On closed inspection you can see that it was once a kitchen.

With the stone work surface still in place and to the right the open fire-place where cast iron cauldrons and clay cooking pots would have been used every day. Also on the right although hard to make out is the large wood fired oven. The smoke from both these fires has been swirling around the kitchen for a couple of hundred years. Fixed to the ceiling joists you can see the poles for drying hams and sausages the smoke giving them that characteristically home-made flavor.

Above the work surface you can see a small alcove which would have held the salt for cooking. You may have noticed that there was no running water in this kitchen. This would have been provided from wooden buckets or clay jars.

If you want to see more old stone house details go to http://blogs.angloinfo.com/sinking-into-portugal/2013/08/26/looking-at-old-portuguese-houses/

Tags alpendre ideal refurbishment property Looking at old stone house in central Portugal Maintaining or increasing your home value in Portugal patios portugal problems refurbishing property repairing stone wall stone stone walls traditional windows

About Castelo Construction Lda

Castelo Construction Lda are builders in Central Portugal. We have 12 years’ experience of working with and delighting clients in Portugal. Tel 00351 927168247 or kelvin@casteloconstruction.com If you need an English speaking builder for renovation or new build work we will provide free estimates, fixed prices and carry out your work to a very high standard. Many of our clients are not in the country full time so rely on our regular photographic updates and written reports. They are always surprised when they make inspection visits. New Construction and Refurbishment of Portuguese Property It’s exciting for both our team and of course our clients to mark out on the earth the site of a new home. We will have been with them during the design process and have spoken to the architect many times so we will be comfortable with what we are about to do. For many clients, this stage is a little daunting as it’s hard to see without experience just where the house is going to be in relation to other things on the property. Once the foundations are dug out the house normally looks smaller than they thought, As the pillars and foundation wall start to go you get a much better idea of scale. You can see with your mind’s eye the location of the kitchen, bedrooms and so on. Once the walls are up and the first floor is in place the rooms start to looks smaller again (something to do with the light absorbing properties of the bricks) once the walls are plastered the rooms look a lot larger and it starts to feel more like the home our clients imagined building. As the build progresses we are involved with many specialist subcontractors and it is our job the get them on site at the right time so that the trades do not overlap and time is not wasted. Once the roof is on and tiled it is traditional in this area to have a dinner on site. Everyone who is involved in the build is invited to share a suckling pig dinner with local bread, oranges and of course wine. This is a great way for the clients to enjoy some local hospitality and meet the craftsmen who are building their new home. We also invite the near neighbors so that they get a chance to see what’s going on (when the house is at a very basic stage) and it gives our clients a relaxed opportunity to make their acquaintance. As we always accompany our clients to choose, kitchens, tiles, bathroom fittings or whatever they want. We can help with translation and of course negotiation! As the house is coming to completion we always have them professionally cleaned so that when we hand over the keys it feels more like a home than a building site. 2 months after the house is finished we are back to check for any small faults that may need attention and of course we are available to help and advise should that be needed. Central Portugal builders

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