Welcome to Várzea da Gonçala
Permaculture Smallholding and Holiday Accommodation
Varzea da Gonçala consists of 7.5 hectares of hill and meadow land, nestling amongst the hills of the western Algarve, bordered by the Cerca river, 12km from the Atlantic Coast and 6km from Aljezur.
The vision of the 18 years in which we have lived here, has been in developing a tree-based productive ecosystem, not only producing food, but making a landscape for living, where families can grow, develop, and nurture the land as their friend and provider..
This diverse smallholding is now for sale.
The property would lend itself for community living, a ,retreat, a guest-house business. or an educational project. There are 4 houses, various structures, including a unique social space with a traditional bread oven and fireplaces. Extensive organic vegetable garden and 100's of mature fruit and nut trees, including , pear, plum, apricot, peach, fig, lemon, orange, grapefruit, nespera, almond and walnut.
There are also hundreds of medronho bushes (the fruit of which produces the local fire-water) and many cork oak trees.
The gardens and land have been lovingly developed, landscaped and tended, for the 18 years we have lived here, following permaculture practices, including a natural grey water system, compost toilets, and numerous systems to improve the quality of the land and the diversity of the ecosystem.
The traditional taipa (rammed earth) houses have wood burners and provide comfortable accommodation The property is bordered by a stream has 2 wells and a borehole, and a 70,000 litre storage tank.
The county town of Aljezur is 7km away, down a picturesque asphalt valley road. There are numerous stunningly beautiful surfing and family beaches nearby, the spa town of Monchique is in the nearby hills, the air is the cleanest in Europe, and the summer heat is freshened by the proximity to the Atlantic ocean.
During the 18 years we have had the privilege to own this beautiful property, we have hosted 15 Permaculture courses, run as a successful guesthouse business and it has been a place of peaceful community living. The time has now come to pass it on, and enter a new chapter.
The price is €950,000, negotiable.
Photos of the property can be found on the "picture gallery" page here. with more to be be added shortly. From the link below, you may also be interested in looking at the article about Várzea da Gonçala in the Permaculture Magazine 2014, and my Blog, which ran for some 10 years and gives a feel of Várzea daily life as it has been.
A short video of the area in front of the main houses can be found on the "general information" page.
If you are interested, please email [email protected] for more information or to arrange a visit, or ask any questions.. Encountering Várzea da Gonçala first-hand is essential in order to appreciate the multifaceted nature of the property.
The vision of the 18 years in which we have lived here, has been in developing a tree-based productive ecosystem, not only producing food, but making a landscape for living, where families can grow, develop, and nurture the land as their friend and provider..
This diverse smallholding is now for sale.
The property would lend itself for community living, a ,retreat, a guest-house business. or an educational project. There are 4 houses, various structures, including a unique social space with a traditional bread oven and fireplaces. Extensive organic vegetable garden and 100's of mature fruit and nut trees, including , pear, plum, apricot, peach, fig, lemon, orange, grapefruit, nespera, almond and walnut.
There are also hundreds of medronho bushes (the fruit of which produces the local fire-water) and many cork oak trees.
The gardens and land have been lovingly developed, landscaped and tended, for the 18 years we have lived here, following permaculture practices, including a natural grey water system, compost toilets, and numerous systems to improve the quality of the land and the diversity of the ecosystem.
The traditional taipa (rammed earth) houses have wood burners and provide comfortable accommodation The property is bordered by a stream has 2 wells and a borehole, and a 70,000 litre storage tank.
The county town of Aljezur is 7km away, down a picturesque asphalt valley road. There are numerous stunningly beautiful surfing and family beaches nearby, the spa town of Monchique is in the nearby hills, the air is the cleanest in Europe, and the summer heat is freshened by the proximity to the Atlantic ocean.
During the 18 years we have had the privilege to own this beautiful property, we have hosted 15 Permaculture courses, run as a successful guesthouse business and it has been a place of peaceful community living. The time has now come to pass it on, and enter a new chapter.
The price is €950,000, negotiable.
Photos of the property can be found on the "picture gallery" page here. with more to be be added shortly. From the link below, you may also be interested in looking at the article about Várzea da Gonçala in the Permaculture Magazine 2014, and my Blog, which ran for some 10 years and gives a feel of Várzea daily life as it has been.
A short video of the area in front of the main houses can be found on the "general information" page.
If you are interested, please email [email protected] for more information or to arrange a visit, or ask any questions.. Encountering Várzea da Gonçala first-hand is essential in order to appreciate the multifaceted nature of the property.
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See the feature article about the Várzea in the autumn
2013 issue of Permaculture Magazine! Follow this link.... Restoring a Traditional Ecosystem 
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Várzea da Gonçala hosts the
2013 European WWOOF convention |
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A regularly updated microcosm of positive reality....
Latest Blog 18th May 2019 
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