Quinta da Alegria
Sintra, Portugal
Carefully preserved over the centuries, the estate of Quinta da Alegria is a testament to the elegance and charm of a bygone age.
The stately three-story country manor house and its rambling, landscaped terraces, flanked by a chapel, tower, two guest houses, and a caretaker's residence, are ensconced in a pastoral landscape in the town of Sintra—a UNESCO World Heritage site some 18 miles (29 km) northwest of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.
There are nearly 10 acres (4 hectares) of idyllic, landscaped gardens graced with stone terraces, verdant lawns, a reflecting pool, dovecote, and centuries-old trees.
It's an enchanted place of groves and orchards, cascading waterfalls and fountains, grottoes and caves, rivers and ponds, and a lake, with views of Sintra's historical monuments and the Atlantic Ocean.
Just beyond the grounds is the historic Seteais Palace, a magnificent Neoclassical palace and five-star hotel.
The History
This magnificent 18th-century manor house was built in the Pombaline style, the predominant style of Lisbon from the mid- to late 1700s. The architectural movement takes its name from the 1st Marquês de Pombal, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, who oversaw the reconstruction of the Portuguese capital following the earthquake of 1755.
Quinta da Cruz, as it was formerly known, dates from 1783. It is thought that Daniel Gildemeester, the Dutch consul to Portugal (for whom the neighboring Seteais Palace was built) designed the quinta and its undulating gardens, orchards, lake, ponds, and rivers, bearing the water from the Sintra Mountains.
The grand facade of the manor house is punctuated by French doors and balconies resting on brackets and wrought-iron partitions. A decorative cornice runs along the edge of the traditional Portuguese clay tile roof, from which dormer windows framed by understated volutes emerge. The gardens were structured on a lower level than the access terrace to the house.
The property of a princely family, Quinta da Alegria was masterfully restored to its original splendor in 2007. The two-year restoration earned the coveted Property of National Interest Designation, an esteemed certification of cultural significance.
The Estate
The manor house encloses 12,486 square feet (1,160 sq m) of light-filled living space. All four levels, including the basement, are served by an elevator. Elegant period details abound. The library, one of several grandly scaled reception rooms, is adorned with an 18th-century painted ceiling depicting the Ascension of Christ.
The gardens are based on the original 18th-century design and include the dovecote, lake, ponds, waterfalls, fountains, greenhouses, vegetable garden, orchard, and a variety of specimen trees and shrubs, many of them planted in the 18th and 19th centuries.
A coat of arms crafted from traditional azulejo tile graces the pool house and a wall beside the pool terrace. Cobblestone paths, formal boxwood hedges, and a verdant lawn with a water mirror create an atmosphere of refined elegance, further heightened by a grand terrasse with a picture-postcard view of the Sintra Valley and the Atlantic Ocean.
Property Overview
• Magnificent 18th-century country estate in the picturesque town of Sintra, Portugal, a UNESCO World Heritage site
• Three-story manor house, chapel, tower, two guest houses, and caretaker's house
• 14,983 total square feet (1,392 sq m) with 9 bedrooms and 10 baths
• 9.9 acres (4 ha) of masterfully designed formal gardens with a dovecoat, two greenhouses, vegetable garden, orchard, caves, waterfalls, fountains, ponds, rivers, and a lake
• Swimming pool, pool house, and expansive terraces for outdoor entertaining
• A meticulous two-year restoration earned the prestigious certification as a Property of National Interest