It’s the end of the year, and this week we’re taking a look back at nine of the top stories of 2025, like this one:
Guests at Quinta do Pinheiro stay in white-washed cottages within touching distance of a swimming pool created from the farm’s water tank. Located on the grounds of a still-working 19th-century agricultural estate, the retreat is set within Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, a protected reserve of beaches, dunes, and salt flats in Portugal’s Algarve.
The property belongs to a Dutch entrepreneurial couple who have become farmers in Portugal—and happen to have great taste. In addition to maintaining the avocado orchard and reestablishing the quinta’s vineyard, they hired esteemed Lisbon firm Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos to turn the existing farmhouse and surrounding structures into two- and three-bedroom guest cottages. The design, starting with the red-painted doors and window frames, draws from the traditions and materials of the region. Join us for a tour of two of the houses.
Photography courtesy of Quinta do Pinheiro (@quinta.pinheiro).
Above: The central farmhouse and surrounding structures have been transformed into five rental cottages, all with stucco walls and their original terracotta-tiled roofs. “In each house, we focused on the elements that reflect the spirit of the original farm,” says lead architect Marta Valsassina, who works in her father’s firm. 
Above: The pool stands in the footprint of what was formerly the farm’s water storage basin.
Casa Celeiro
Above: A converted barn, Casa Celeiro has a 42-square-meter (425-square-foot) living room/kitchen under an exposed rafter ceiling inset with straw, a style Marta says is typical of the area. Santa Catarina floor tiles and red interior shutters, two more signatures of the region, appear in every cottage. 
Above: A newly introduced living room niche showcases relics found on the farm: one of the previous owners was a collector who ran his own small museum on the premises.
