Casa dos Caseiros | SAMF Arquitectos

Casa dos Caseiros is set on a stone-walled terrace in Portugal’s Duoro Valley wine-producing region. Home to a vineyard’s resident caretaker, the small house is the first step in a planned restoration of the entire vineyard.

The client requested that SAMF Arquitectos design the new caretaker’s residence to be a complementary match for the vineyard’s existing composition of vernacular agricultural buildings. While obviously much newer than the surrounding structures, it shares with them gable-roofed forms covered with traditional white rendered stucco and barrel roof tiles. It then departs from tradition with subtly modern details, most notably the cut-out entry porch with its cantilevered roof.

The doors and windows are painted vibrant blue, a shade taken from the windows of the adjacent buildings. The same color is carried inside for the interior woodwork. The interior layout corresponds to the twin gables of the outer form, with an open living/dining/kitchen area and the bathroom in the larger gable, and two bedrooms in the smaller one. Both sections have vaulted ceilings, maximizing the sense of space within the small house.

Also in the interest of maximizing space, the architects completely eliminated hallways and transitional spaces, putting the entire 70.0 m² (753 ft²) floor area toward usable rooms. However that strategy does result in some reduction of privacy with the entrance, bedrooms and bathroom opening directly off the living area.

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Photographs by José Campos, courtesy of SAMF Arquitectos. Via ArchDaily.

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