Ana Cabral Santiago Faria
Francisco and Alfreda’s properties were inherited by his children. Her daughter Ana was who received the Quintal do Forno and the adjoining cottages.
Quintal do Forno in the 21st century
After Francisco’s decease, the garden and the buildings started a gradual deterioration process due to the failure of the rural economic model, the properties’ division, and a lack of labour in inland Portugal.
In 2006 Ana’s husband, Arch. José Santiago Faria started restoring the old straw storage building, known as Palheira. The work finished in 2010, and just before that, José Faria suddenly passed away.
In 2015 the property passed to their youngest child, Pedro and his wife Beatriz.
Initially, we just thought of having a place for our holidays in Portugal. However, as we realised the historical value of the garden and its needs, our initial idea became this project.
In the turbulent 2020, we moved from London to Paços da Serra with our children. From here, on the foothills of Serra da Estrela, we are finishing the infrastructure, as well as the small details of our project, to start having visitors and guests. We are looking forward to taking off!
“Garden conservation (…) is a permanent act of creation and development and shows, like any other artwork, the collaboration and love between the different generations who passed by them, their joys and sorrows, and which we receive from the past and want to pass on to the future.”
Francisco Caldeira Cabral, 1988