A house in the one strip the reserve allows

The project

A new house on a 24 258 m² Douro vineyard estate, almost all of it under ecological and agricultural reserve. The plan is what fits the one strip that is not.

What we were responsible for

A dwelling licensed to replace the house standing at the north end of a 24 258 m² estate of vineyard and woodland falling steeply to the Douro. Almost all of the land is under national ecological and agricultural reserve, so the house could only go in the one strip that is not: the design is what fits there, not what the slope would otherwise invite. Three levels, two of them above the entrance threshold, with the height from threshold to ground kept under six metres and the sealed area under 300 m², both to stay within what the site allows. Stone walls, timber-slatted ceilings and full-height glazing turned to the valley; the vineyard under the house is kept in cultivation.

Who built it

WALLNUT was responsible for the design. No construction contract has been awarded — and the work can go to site with us, under a single contract.

What this does not include

This is the dwelling at the north end; the manor on the same land is a separate commission and has its own page. The licence has been granted since February 2024 and the works have not started, and nothing here is built.

Verified facts

Licence granted
February 2024 by the council, for a single-family dwelling
The estate
24 258,85 m²
Of that, rural title
24 088,85 m² — the urban title is 170 m²
Under ecological or agricultural reserve
— almost all of it; the house sits on the one strip that is not
Levels
3 two above the entrance threshold
Height from threshold to ground
<6 m, as the site requires
Sealed area
<300 m², as the site requires

Images

The house from below, cantilevered out of the hillside above rows of vines: a stone base, a glazed upper floor set back under a dark eaves line, and pine woodland closing behind it. — The vines are not landscaping. They were there and they stay in production.

The living room: pale seating on a stone floor, a timber-slatted ceiling running the depth of the room, a sculptural black pendant, and glazing on two sides opening to the valley. — Two walls of glass, and the Douro doing the rest.

The dining room seen against a wall of dressed stone, a round table with six chairs, three pale leaf-shaped pendants above it and the valley through the glazing on the left. — The stone wall is load-bearing, not a facing.

The same stone wall seen head on, lit from above, with a long table for ten and pale upholstered chairs against it. — Ten at the table, along the one wall that is not glass.

The kitchen: a white island with three stools under a timber-slatted ceiling, tall units to the right and a wide window framing the vineyard terraces outside. — One window, framed on the vineyard.

A bedroom with a low bed against a wall of dressed stone, a slim pendant to one side, a climbing plant in the corner and sheer curtains at a full-height opening. — The stone comes indoors and is left alone.

Other work

A stone manor, room by room
Rehabilitation of a stone manor
House in Melides
Private house
Oasis Aparthotel
Aparthotel and serviced apartments

Reading note

On this page, 6 renders of the design. None of it is a photograph: there is nothing yet to photograph. The furniture and art in the renders show the design intent; they are not a specification. We do not publish the client. No costs, prices or margins are published.

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