Portugal Homes
Property # 8739

Location & Description
Norwegian artistic flair has produced a spectacular house The outside of Casal da Dama gives no indication of the delights to be found inside. As you enter through the front door you are immediately aware that this house is very different. The entrance hall sets the theme for the whole house, it is full of unusual features and interesting ways of getting from room to room. Guests shouldspend their first hour trying to get a plan of the house into their heads so as not to get lost! The hall has a high ceiling with exposed roof timbers. To the left are the tanks that were once used for wine making, and have now been converted into a room for the children. Opposite is a staircase leading up to a pulpit where one could imagine the priest preaching to the congregation below and to those in the balcony, which covers two sides of the hall. The owner, Audi Sjolie Randolf, is an artist and sculptor and on the right wall some of her figures are displayed, including a life sized 'mother' figure to guard over the children. Joining the old part of the house to the new bedroom wing, is a light, airy room, with some of the many long trailing plants featured throughout the house. Here Aud serves evening meals to the guests, a mixture of Norwegian and Portuguese cuisine. Following a recent radio programme about the house and its owner, one Norwegian lady, a passenger en route from Oslo to the Azores, suddenly decided to leave the plane at Lisboa and take a taxi to the house. She arrived late at night and was put on the bus at 7.00 am next morning to continue her flight. She said that having heard the radio programme she could not visit Portugal without seeing the house and, more importantly, meeting the remarkable owner whose striking personality made the radio programme so fascinating. She went away feeling that the experience was well worththe long detour. The house has one double bedroom with an ensuite jacuzzi bathroom. There are also three twin bedrooms with ensuite shower room. Each of the three twin bedrooms have doors leading to their own terraces overlooking the lawn and valley below. Across the lawn is the swimming pool, which features an old olive storage bottle with water flowing into the pool. Nearby is a barbecue area, which is ideal for enjoying pool side drinks whilst looking across to the opposite hillside. Here you will find apple, pear, orange and nut trees which you can sample during your visit. A strong personal relationship is built up with the guests and at the end of the visit the guests photographs and comments are inserted into an interesting scrap book Casal da Dama is situated in the little village of Toxofal de Cima which is untouched by tourism. The town of Lourinhã is about 3 kilometres away and the Atlantic beaches can be reached in ten minutes by car. Lisbon is 50 minutes away and the beautiful medieval town of Óbidos, one of the most visited towns in Portugal, is only 25 minutes away. With only four rooms, and having been featured in a full length television programme, availability is limited.