Casa Catarina by Portucasa

Santa Catarina Fonte Bispo - Villa

I have booked a 3 month stay at Casa Catarina during the “winter period”. Casa Catarina is a renovated quintinha, a small farmhouse style house beautifully situated in the hills of Porto Carvalhoso, above Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo. It is quite remote, but is in a group of 4 houses, so as a woman alone I felt safe enough. The first thing you notice is the white with blue accents of the house, which looks very inviting and of course the garden, truly beautiful, full of fragrant and colorful plants and walking paths in between I spent many hours on the blue bench in front of the house in the sun.
The house is spacious and has everything you need: a nice living room, a few small steps to the blue kitchen with a 4-person dining table and all utensils (including oven), bathroom with a nice walk-in shower and washing machine, a large bedroom with double bed and a smaller bedroom with possibly 2 single beds and a wardrobe. I used this last room as a workplace, because during these 3 months I did remote work for the company in the Netherlands, a workation as they call it nowadays. The most important thing for me was a good internet connection and it was indeed very stable (even better than in the Netherlands), also during Team and Zoom meetings. The owner had also taken the trouble to properly set up the place for me as a workplace, I only brought the desk chair myself. In any case, both the owner and the caretaker were very helpful and responded quickly to questions.
At the front of the house is a large garden and at the side / rear a small terrace with parasol, a wooden terrace on top together with the plunge pool, which is wonderful on hot days (a little less privacy). The living room and master bedroom have air conditioning (for cold and warm air), both bedrooms also have marble stone heating and the living room also has a pellet stove. Water comes from a special tank, you have to buy ordinary drinking water. There is a river nearby, which is great fun if you have a dog with you. Nice hiking trails in the hillsfor montain bikers. It is wonderfully quiet and you will be awakened in the morning by the birds. The location is less suitable for small childrenpeople with walking difficultiespeople who like a lot of hustle and bustle around them.
Santa Catarina is about 10 minutes away by car. You need your own transport here! I had brought an E-bike, which was not a success unless you are super sporty because those hills are quite steep 😉 There is almost no mobile coverage, but there is a landline and you can call via the internet with Whatsapp / Skype etc
Fortunately, my 2 kittens Luna and Mel were also welcome in Casa Catarina and especially enjoyed the enclosed garden, where they could run around and romp around in a fairly safe way. How disappointing they will soon be in my Dutch garden. Cat litter box is available in the cottage.
I did not need the air conditioning for the cold air, all the more for the warm air and that went fine. Together with the pellet stove it is comfortable and cozy.
In the winter time that I was there, there was the worst rainfall since about 10 years and this caused some problems (as with almost all houses), but was neatly solved by the owner and also by the caretaker of the house.
All in all had a great time, definitely worth repeating."

MV

In total we stayed here for 10 nights. The house has been beautifully renovated. I especially loved the handmade kitchen and the beautiful tiles. Hygiene was very good. The owner and staff are welcoming and kind. We loved staying here!
B.T.

Landlord responds quickly and provides good information. The house is beautifully situated in the hills, we enjoyed the view every day. The kitchen is complete and well equipped. And although it was almost 40 degrees outside during the day, the air-conditioning could handle it well slept well at night in a pleasant temperature.
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