Architecture Magazine The Spaces Praises Comporta

“Portugal’s wild Comporta coastline should be your summer sanctuary”

Digital architecture magazine The Spaces considers that “Portugal’s wild Comporta coastline should be your summer sanctuary”, as can be read in the title of its August 21^st post. The post praises the attractions to be found in Comporta, namely its white sand beaches, estuary and pine tree forest swarming with wildlife.

"It was a warm Sunday morning in the summer of 1956 when José Manuel Espírito Santo first laid eyes on Portugal’s Herdade da Comporta from his sailboat, at that time deserted except for its rice fields and makeshift workers’ huts”, The Spaces tells us. The magazine goes on to tell the story of how the Espírito Santo family bought the 12 500 hectare  Comporta property and kept it under its possession until 2014.

The magazine states that Comporta, often referred to as the “secret treasure of Europe”, is just an hour’s drive away from Lisbon and that “it has long been a refuge for creatives wishing to put their urban lives on hold – and find inspiration in its raw scenery and down-to-earth charm. The likes of Christian Louboutin, Jacques Granges, Anselm Kiefer, and more recently Madonna have used it as their summer sanctuary. Meanwhile, British painter Jason Martin has a studio in Comporta and takes cues from the landscape for his work.”

The works that Portuguese renowned architects Aires Mateus and Pereira Miguel Arquitectos carried out in Comporta are also worth a mention. “They have re-appropriated the sandy-floored local hut vernacular into modern holiday homes in rural spots and the villages of Carvalhal and Carrasqueira.” The Spaces does not forget to mention that Christian Louboutin chose this last location, the Palafítico da Carrasqueira, to promote his spring/summer 2013 campaign.

“In the white-washed village of Comporta itself, storks assemble nests atop chimneys. The bank, church, bakery, offices, factories and workers’ houses all retain their rustic, laid-back character, and sit happily beside eco-chic new additions.”

In the same post, the magazine still reveals which “places to stay and the spots not to miss on this unspoilt stretch of the Portuguese coastline”. Among them rank Casas na Areia, Cabanas no Rio, the Sublime Comporta hotel, Casa do Pego, Villa L66 and the 3 Bicas Villa. Under the recommendations on what to do feature Cavalos na Areia, Herdade da Comporta Foundation and Winery and Rice by Marta Mantero. A Cavalariça and Comporta Café are the mealtime suggestions and Praia da Comporta and Praia do Pego the recommended beaches.

Source: The Spaces