Note: This is a pictorial tour that extends over two posts. You are viewing Part 2.
(It’s a good idea to click through to a browser because it’s likely that your email will truncate this long pictorial scroll.)
I know I’m not the only one who loves to sneak peeks inside other people’s houses. In San Francisco, dusk was the perfect time to get a glimpse inside those big bay windows. As the light faded outside, lights sprang to life inside, illuminating rooms like a stage.
In the Outer Sunset neighborhood where we lived, many houses were built in the 1940s or 50s as near-carbon copies of each other. So it was fun to see how other people arranged their furniture in layouts that were similar to ours. I also loved to look at the art on the walls, the colors, the groupings of people gathered around a dinner table or lit up by blue, watching TV as the night rolled over us all.
We humans are curious creatures, always hungry for a taste of how someone else lives. So to satisfy your curiosity and my own need to preen, here is a (very curated) tour of my country home in Portugal. (If you missed Part 1, go here to tour the outside grounds.)
Come on in…
Our home at Oliveira do Paraiso was built in 1995, so even though it gives off traditional vibes, it’s a fairly young house. We are the home’s third owners. The previous owner lived here for 22 years, and much of the character of the place is his doing. He loved woodworking, and added all of the warm wood touches that you’ll see throughout. (He also planted most of the trees who are now towering and thriving all over the property.)
I loved this house (and the entire property) at first sight, and it has been a joy to spend the last five months making it our own. We are not finished, not by any stretch. There will always be another project, another upgrade, another tweak to add. That’s part of the fun (and the work), and I’m not complaining.
So. Welcome to my home as it looks on a sunny afternoon in July of 2022.
This is what you’ll see when you step inside the front door…
The highlighted art: 3D maps of California and Portugal purchased on etsy; a mosaic plate made from broken tiles that I found at the Feira da Ladra in Lisboa; a cork planter purchased at a maker’s fair in Setúbal; a collage titled “Power in Pleasure, Voice is Power” made in San Francisco by my friend Jamae Tasker; and planter heads from my favorite garden center, Lusoverde in Pinhal Novo.
The dining room
The dining room and living room are one open space. Marido made the dining room table (he’s currently working on matching chairs), as well as both bookshelves. The little tri-legged stool was purchased at the bi-monthly Setúbal flea market from an elderly man who told me it was a “typical Alentejo seat.” The paintings of the three mothers is by my friend Rosangela Scheithauer. Marido found the painting by the bookshelf on a trip to Shanghai. I’ll also note here that hanging art in Portuguese houses is no small feat. In California, I’d just bang a nail into the drywall whenever I wanted to put up a picture or rearrange the ones already on the wall. Here, the walls are made of very thick cement, with a layer of bricks behind that, and more cement after that. So we plan carefully, Marido drills once (for a really long time) and then that piece of art is going to stay there pretty much forever!
We brought the art and books from California (except for a few new vintage books I’ve picked up at flea markets here and there in Portugal).
The living room. The fireplace makes the room really toasty in the winter!
Pasmadinhos by Maria Pó from Setúbal on the left (displayed on yet another awesome custom shelf by Marido); the hallway to the bedrooms on the right.
Bathroom bits (yes, that’s a bidet) and a note on lights: It’s quite common here in Portugal for homeowners to take their light fixtures with them when they leave. Often when you buy (or sometimes even rent) a new-to-you home, you’ll find only bare bulbs hanging from the walls or ceiling. We had to find new light fixtures for nearly every room in our house. We like old stuff, and found this treasure trove of fantastic old light fixtures at Moveconde in Quinta do Conde. (That’s also where the fantastic chandelier in our dining room came from.)
The kitchen. I know you’re thinking, “TWO refrigerators?!” And yeah, so were we when we moved in. Apparently it’s not uncommon to have one fridge for food while the other is reserved for drinks. We decided to give it a try (especially since these two fridges use less energy than one typical “American” fridge). Lo and behold, we love it. Turns out having a fridge just for beverages is brilliant.
Let’s head upstairs. This photo was actually taken in February, before we moved in, but… look at that light!
Taking steps back through four separate doorways from one end of the upstairs to the other.
The upstairs terrace with (above) and without (below) Vila’s fuzzy dog bed.
The guest room with bonus me in the mirror. This is the bedroom set my mom and dad used the entire time I was growing up. As a child, I thought my mom’s makeup table was the most sophisticated thing in the world. By the time I was grown, this set had been relegated to a guest bedroom in the Illinois farmhouse. When I knew we were moving to Portugal, I asked my parents if I could take it with me. They said yes, and we packed it carefully into our container. It feels right at home here, and makes me feel like a piece of my parents are with me.
Saved my favorite for last. This is my writing room. It has the best light, and all my favorite stuff. Red velvet reading chair, gorgeous bookshelves overflowing with all the best words. Glowing poppy painting that I bought from an artist in Sintra two weeks after we arrived. Softest carpet ever from laredoute.pt. I love this room so much. Which is good, because I spend a great deal of time in it!
Top left are my ladies: Angolan woman from my friend Elda; boob vase by Rose Grown; Luciano Garbati’s Medusa with the Head of Perseus; my writer’s hand; my mother’s alarm clock; Venus. A stack of really good memoirs (Chanel Miller’s is my favorite). My dad’s typewriter. Some favorite vintage books and my Maleficent headpiece.
For years, I’ve had old awards (4-H trophies, cheap plastic school trophies, heavy-duty metal from film festivals, etc.) in boxes. I’ve never had my own writing room and never had a place to display it all. I thought about purging much of it numerous times over the years, but it always felt a bit sacrilegious. Finally, in this room, I’ve created a space for all the versions of LaDonna who ever were to exist simultaneously. It’s weird and it’s perfect and it’s mine. And yes, I did really ride in that Ogle County Fair Horse Show in 1986 on my trusty quarter horse, Fantasia!
I’m sitting at this very desk right now, trying to wrap it all up.
So that’s it, that’s my house—or as much of it as I’m willing to put on the internet for strangers to see. I do feel incredibly lucky to live here—in this country, in this home, on this property. Even luckier after last week’s close call. It’s not the sleekest or the fanciest, and as Marido likes to point out—something is always breaking. But it’s lush and it’s big and it’s warm and it’s ours and I fully recognize how special it is.
Now the afternoon is waning and there’s a puncture in the swimming pool that needs tending and I’ve spent so many hours hidden away up here in my writing room this Sunday that Filha has come up not once but three times to see if I’m still alive. I need to get back to reality.
Your home breathes....Breathes energy, breathes love, breathes light, breathes family, breathes airiness, breathes goodness. So happy to see this. xo
Wow, LaDonna! It’s Architectural Digest-worthy. What a gorgeous, liveable home!