Oxalá Algarve - Portugal & Africa

- Quinta de Oxalá -
- Madrigal -

QUINTA DE OXALÁ, ESTOMBAR, ALGARVE, PORTUGAL
A stunningly restored old farm cottage with swimming pool and a lily-pond,
uniquely furnished with an eclectic mix of antiques and kilims.
Watch a Video »

Quinta de Oxalá is a distinctive restoration of an old farm cottage filled with interesting architectural details. The house is uniquely designed, spacious, and perfect for a family holiday or a romantic getaway.

There are plenty of spaces for everyone to find a favourite spot both indoors and outdoors. A big sitting room with wooden floors that is a special place to relax, read and listen to music. The small sitting room opens onto the big veranda, which is also overlooked by the kitchen and where dining is a treat. You can decide to dine indoors, or at the shaded barbecue under a tree by the swimming pool, which has and dining area. There is plenty of seating. Below the pool is a vine covered terrace, leading to the vegetable garden and water-fonte. Our freshwater pond is full of water lilies and of course, frogs.

The two hectare farm is set in the wild countryside with figs, almonds and gigantic olive trees, and close to a small unspoilt village. The baker stops at the top of the lane by the café every morning, the ice-cream van and the market gardener come on a Saturday and the farmer grazes his sheep in the fields next door.

Depending on the season you will be able to pick fresh figs, plums, peaches, olives, passion fruit, medlars or grapes, crack your own almonds or collect herbal teas, and the lemons are ready to pick at any time of year. There is also a vegetable garden; sweet-peas, broad beans, garlic, tomatoes, onions, butternuts, melons and more are all grown in season. Watch a Video »

- Click to enlarge -

DETAILS
The rooms and verandas have ramps or gentle slopes to make pram and wheelchair access easy, there is even a ramp into the pool.

SOME CONDITIONS
- Properly trained dogs are welcome if they like cats, the farm has a cat called Diesel, she lives outdoors.
- Wireless Internet access for those who bring a laptop. Email checking and browsing only. Sorry, no downloading of games and films.
- Please smoke out of doors and use the pails of sand provided for cigarette butts. The house has wooden ceilings and rafters which will hold the smell of cigarette smoke.
- A/C control remote handsets on request.

LOCALITY DESCRIPTION
Oxalá is a country cottage only ten minutes from many of the Algarve's beautiful sandy beaches, some are hidden away in secluded coves, others are resorts with all seaside amenities. Less than five minutes drive away are two golf courses. The little village of Estômbar is only walking distance, where there is a market every weekday morning for fresh bread, meat, fish and vegetables, and there are plenty of small grocery stores, busy cafes and great local restaurants. Estômbar is one of the few villages in the Algarve as yet untouched by tourism. No hotels, resorts or caravan parks; it is still quiet and authentic with its twin-steepled heritage church which celebrates holy days with a canopied procession. The historical ancient Moorish capital city of Silves is just nine kilometres away. Within less than five kilometres are the towns of Portimão and Lagoa, a waterslide-park, and the freshwater natural spring pools and amphitheater at the nearby Fontes which holds a summer jazz festival. A kilometre from the cottage is Boca do Rio Club with restaurant, indoor athletics pool, gymnasium and where boat, waterski and board hire are available.

ALGARVE DESCRIPTION
Algarve was known as the garden of Portugal, the range of hills and Monchique mountain protect it from the north and keep the temperature a few degrees warmer than the rest of Portugal. The main crop was olives, figs and almonds. This farm is a remnant of that time. Estombar was settled in Roman times and then later by the Moors, this is evident in names of the narrow, white streets. Its castle, now just four stone walls at the end of my mother's garden, is one of the dozen on the Portguese 'Escudo'. Most of the villagers of Estombar used to work in one of the fishing factories that surrounded the estuary of the River Arade close by.

PROPERTY EQUIPMENT

Cooker	Fridge	Microwave	Toaster
Expresso Machine	Kettle	Juicer	Dish washer
Barbecue	Iron	Hairdryer	Washing machine
Central heating	Air conditioning	Fans	Log fires
Highchair	Cot	TV	CD player
Telephone	Internet access	Linen	Towels
Pool-side towels

TYPES OF HOLIDAY
Walking holiday
Rural / countryside retreats
Beach or lakeside relaxation
Cycling holiday
A winter sun break

ACTIVITIES NEARBY (all within 10 kilometres - 6 miles)
Golf course five minutes drive
Tennis courts ten minutes drive
Water park three minutes drive
Horse riding fifteen minutes drive
Fishing five minutes drive
Donkey rides five minutes drive