How did this all start?

It was a simple sentence;

“We should build a house here.” That was the start.

“Where?” 

“It’s a place in Portugal called Comporta, just down from Lisbon, about an hour I think. I’ve read about it in an article, and it sounds perfect”

“In what way is it perfect?”

“It says there are no clubs, it’s peaceful and people socialise in their own homes”

“OK, I’m up for it. Do you think we should go and have a look?”

That was it, the start of a love affair.

And as simple as that, we found ourselves driving through the rain in mid-February to explore the roads that I had spent months looking at on Google Earth. If you can fall in love and feel a connection with a place on a wet day in February, then you are going to be hooked.

It was as described; quiet, low key and peaceful, but articles and pictures don’t really prepare you for the actual feeling, for the smells, for the people. One day and we were in too deep; that’s all it took. There was no way this was not going to happen now. It was out of our hands. It was written.

The search began, not only for somewhere to buy but exactly where to search. The beauty is that it really isn’t obvious – everything is hidden and the more you search the more you learn why that is. Planning rules make building a challenge and in turn the area retains the quality that makes you want to build. So, you must really want it because the journey is long, very long and what feel like setbacks reveal themselves to be simple changes of direction that you were always meant to take.

We went back in September, and the hills above Melides were the focus of the search. There are so many beautiful homes scattered around and the romanticism of a home on a hill was dominating our thoughts. A strip of land appeared and seemed perfect – it was on a hill, with a view and it was in budget, but life got in the way and although the pace of life is slow, land doesn’t stay still for long and when we were finally ready, it had been sold.

So our first piece of land had gone, which was upsetting but only strengthened our belief that we were looking in the right place. The land had not come out of a concerted search – we had glanced at it through an estate agent’s window – but now the search was truly on. The money was there, and nothing was in our way. We planned a new trip and went out in March with appointments to look around several possible plots.

Day 1 we saw a lot of land, possibly too much and nothing made our hearts sing. In fact, the opposite, which was unexpected.

Day 2 we saw two plots and some areas that we hadn’t been to before, and we were back on board. The land was stunning; one plot was in an incredible location, but not in our budget.

Day 3 was the day. From the start of our journey, one particular website and one particular man, kept popping up on our searches. Ronald Wayne (www.livingportugalproperty.com) always seemed to have the plots we wanted, but they always got snapped up. It was raining again on Day 3 when we met Ronald and Carla outside the restaurant 5entidos in Carvalhal (www.5entidos.pt). I think they thought we were slightly mad coming out without an umbrella, but when you come from Lancashire, Portuguese rain really doesn’t touch the sides and anything above 10 degrees is a heat wave. Ronald showed us 4 or maybe 5 plots which all had possibility, and we were on our way back to Carvalhal when Ronald asked Saskia what would be the one thing that she wanted from a plot. Back came the answer, ‘Umbrella Pines’.

‘I may have just the thing,’ said Ronald in his calm and cool voice.

I was in the front of the car with Ronald and Saskia was in the back with Carla, Ronald’s partner. We pulled onto a sandy piece of land with a huge number of mature umbrella pines and started to drive along it. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at as there was no fence around it and it was the opposite of our original brief. It wasn’t a hill, it was flat. It wasn’t above Melides, it was 3 minutes from the centre of Melides, on the flat lands. Saskia was fascinated by the very large and cute pig that clearly belonged to the neighbours, so I don’t think she even knew we were on the plot yet, but when we got out of the car, it hit us both. This is it! The smells, the sounds, the scale, and the sense of home. Everything that a photo will never tell you. Just stand still, close your eyes and your senses will tell you everything you need to know.

And this was just the start.