Álvaro, Castelo Branco 6160

Casa Funil do Sol The house lies in the village of Álvaro, which is part of the Aldeias do Xisto network, which means villages build in slate stone. Álvaro is over 500 years old, and because of a prospering time in the last century, the house owners were able to plaster their houses. This is the reason why nearly all houses are white, and not in the typical stone optic. Álvaro is located on a small mountain with a spectacular view to both sides, one is the river Zézere, the other is a valley with a little stream. It has a centre road which opens up in the middle of the village to build a place in front of the church. There also lies the Funil do Sol, which means sun funnel. ItS could so because the garden side is fully exposed to the south, and that means: to the sun! The house was completely rebuild in 2018. It has a concrete foundation, isolated walls and windows with thermic glass. The street facade is tiled in slate, on the garden side it is white painted plaster. Seen from the street the left neighbour is also a new built house, the right neighbour house is still waiting on its rebirth. Funil do Sol is a two store building with an open ground plan. Looking from the top it looks a bit like a funnel, because it has a smaller entrance part and larger living room/kitchen part. It opens itself complete to the garden and the sun and closes to the street. Entering the house one sees the whole length of the building, the entrance with wardrobe and the stairs to the first floor. In the centre of the attention stands the great wardrobe at the end of the stairs which is made like collage of parts from old Portuguese cabinets. To get into the bathroom behind, one has to go through a door in the wardrobe. The entrance part of the house has nearly a hight of six meter. On the opposite to the wardrobe/bathroom is the sleeping loft made out of pinewood with a 1.8 x 2.0 meter bed. The bathroom has a 1.4 x 1.0 meter shower. The floor is in real slate tiles, it also has a toilet and a ceramic washbasin based on an old cupboard. In the ground floor one reaches a sitting area before entering the open kitchen with washing machine, two door refrigerator, oven, cooker and a lot of cupboards. Oven and cooker are located in the middle of the room connected to the great table. Around the corner lies the living room, completely open to the rest of the house. From here one gets out in the garden to enjoy the shadow of the huge fig tree. All the household appliances are new. The kitchen has a basic equipment, the garden is fresh landscaped. The interior was professional designed. The house comes in its own colour scheme. It shows orange, yellow and different graduations of grey. So is the kitchen and the rest of the furniture, which are all bespoke and handmade and painted to fit in the concept. All is ready to move in, only the living room needs a sofa and a table to sit down relaxed and comfortable in front of the wood-burning stove which stands on a massive bank of concrete opposite to the garden facade, with a lot of space to store fire wood. The building reflects the tranquility and the colours of the surrounding. Even inside you could feel the sun shining. The materials are also local, as the pine wood floor, the slate tiles and the ceramics in the entrance hall. The open layout gives a feeling of a much bigger house, there is only one indoor wall. The construction of the house keeps it cool in the summer and helps the heat to stay in the winter. It is a modern building, with up to date design and materials, in a 500 year old village, with a lot of highlights around. Past and present could not meet better!