It is the penultimate day of Geometric January, and I thought I’d share another fascinating building in Castro Verde. MrB and I after a coffee decided to brave the Saharan dust and explore another part of the town. The stroll took us towards the fairground where we would eventually discover the delights of the mill, but en route my eye was caught by the top of a building. For a moment I thought the Saharan dust was affecting my vision!
As we walked past the front of the building I couldn’t really work it out. So we continued walking down the street with the aim of immediately walking back the other side. However we were distracted by the windmill as we had spotted you could go inside, and given MrB’s fascination for Portuguese windmills we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
So it was another hour or so before we walked back and I was able to discover what the tower belonged to. The other side was even more extraordinary.
Amazingly this imposing building is not a public building, but ‘simply’ a farmhouse dating from the beginning of the 20th century. At time of its construction the farmer, Álvaro Romano Colaço, was using a new material – cement – and clearly he and his builders had fun with it. Whilst the tile coverings are not unusual for Portugal the rest of the decoration is.
A rather fab building especially for a farm house
I know – he clearly wanted to stand out!
sure did
Intriguing! I like it.
Seems a few of us do – wish we could go inside
Beautiful!
glad you like
What a mix of delicate / filigrane and stury!
ooh sounds like we both have impractical builds today – love it. Going to move your link though across to my other blog so more can see it. Sorry I am causing confusion again!
Extraordinary indeed, Becky. A Moorish-Chinoiserie confection.
oh I love that description
This looks like it should be on a different continent entirely. No wonder you wanted a closer look.
yes you wonder where he got the inspiration from
I do enjoy your articles Becky, always something different and not cliched. Fascinating.
Extraordinary! It seems to have weathered well too. It was built for GeometricJanuary, wasn’t it?
maybe the word is getting out about squares!
I remember it having the same impact on us, on a much sunnier, blue sky day. Talk about weird and wonderful! I really liked Castro Verde and it’s time we went back.
it is such a lovely town isn’t it. You have to go back and report on what has changed
It’s the kind of place that won’t have changed much. I really liked it.
Robert and I always meant to actually stay in the town for a night or two, but only ever got as far as a village nearby. When I return to Portugal I might stay here
I’ll meet you there! I have a post of the village with a solar halo which was special to me.
They did a great job. What an unusual addition to his house.
just so different, must have been a real talking point at the time