Casa d' Alfaias

This construction was built in the early nineties. By than it was composed only by two rooms were their owners grew their family.

Around 1940, already vacant, it was bought along with the surrounding fields and used as a supplementary building to the house built next to it. It was used to store agricultural implements and as a wine cellar. By that time the new owners worked the land growing corn, wheat, potatoes and beans among others. It was also here that was performed an annual and very popular feast called \\\"matança do porco\\\", which consisted in butchering a pig or two and preparing the meat for storing during the next twelve months. This was a pretext for inviting friends for help and feasting till late in the evening. That\\\'s why the large kitchen was kept almost just as it was and with some utensils related to that time. The oven, still ready for use, was an important asset to this and all the kitchens of that time, necessary to bake, among several things, corn-bread, wheat-bread and a regional and very popular cake named \\\"massa sovada\\\" usually baked in special occasions, such as the \\\"matança do porco\\\".

Agriculture, was till a few decades ago the main occupation of locals, and we tried to keep it just like it was, even with stubborn efforts, although the search for a better way of life and the natural modifications that comes with progress have changed drastically the old uses. Now, it\\\'s cattle raising the most important occupation around this islands and as a result of all of that, is quite difficult to hire people to work the land.

Its impossible nowadays to see those huge and green corn fields to lose sight of, or wheat, beet, potatoes or lupine that we were used to, except for the green pastures, that seems to invade even the small back yards. It\\\'s the cattle and the new up- growing class of cattle-raisers looking for a better way of life that dictates this assault.

It was almost impossible to resist to all this changes!

In 1998 we decided that this house could be put to better use, such as rural-tourism. A place where people can feel well and rest. Keeping this in mind, we made the necessary changes to convert it as it looks now, trying to keep most of its original draft and some of the utensils, till a few years ago, daylily used.