We had been looking at properties in Portugal for quite a while and had some not too favourable experiences, but as soon as we met John from Bosch Real Estate we liked his straight "no nonsense" approach and we knew we wanted to do business with these people. When he showed us Casal Do Marques it was 'Love at First Sight' and we purchased our beautiful Quinta in February 2007.
We are planning a permanent move from September 08 to live a self-sufficient & off-the-grid life in this wonderful country with our growing family and our dog, Fran the Lazy Lurcher.

The property had not been habited for 40 years and was seriously overgrown including many large pine trees some dangerously overhanging the house. At first sight this must have seemed a rather daunting prospect to all the previous viewers, however, with Paul's knowledge and experience of felling for the Forestry Commission and being a Carpenter and Eco-Builder for the last 35 years, we immediately saw the potential of this gorgeous property and land for a low carbon impact restoration. We took on the challenge. We are now conserving as much of the old stonework on the houses as possible, using original building methods incorporating sand and lime, and replacing roofs, ceilings and floors with only wood from our own trees.

Paul is looking to support his family and make a living here in Portugal doing what he loves best, working as a Carpenter and Eco-builder. We plan to restore the second building to create guest accommodation and a large studio space in order to eventually host eco-holidays and retreats. As Barbara is a fully qualified Reflexologist, we will also offer holistic treatments. Until the guest accommodation is fully restored we are happy to offer our lovely 2-berth caravan with hot shower and cooking facilities for rent. If you are interested in any of the above & for further information, please visit our website: www.thegoodlifeinportugal.com or e-mail: lovesthetrees@peacemail.com