Corte Pisão

Please read the description fully before you contact us for a viewing, this is a very thorough and honest description of the properties and should answer most of your questions, we have also included our views of each property, these explain what we had decided each property would become to give you an idea of what could be achieved, because each of these properties has a habitation license the internal designs can be changed to suit your needs without any planning permission so do not feel that you have to go with our suggestions. If you would like a better idea of the houses, land and surroundings you can email for a free DVD.

The properties for sale consist of a two bedroom habitable farmhouse with room for conversion and improvement, a partially renovated one bedroom barn and a ruin farmhouse for restoration with over an acre of land, they make up most of a small ‘Aldeia’ (small village) called Corte Pisão with only an adjacent barn not being included which belongs to the nearest neighbour who lives about ½ km away. They are surrounded by woodland and are accessed by a dirt lane, it is a very secluded and tranquil setting even though there is a small town (Vila Nova do Ceira) within 30 minutes walk or less than 5 minutes by car, you can also hear the river in the base of the valley from the properties. Potential for solar panels and borehole water as well as the tranquil surroundings, rustic access and enough land to grow produce makes this an ideal self-sufficiency project for low cost living or an eco-tourism site.

The Properties on the Upper Level

The main farmhouse has a large balcony, bread oven room, bbq patio, courtyard and gardens. There is a large cherry tree, chestnut and new lemon and lime trees which were planted last year. The house is habitable though in need of some modenisation and finishing off, there is also room on the ground floor for conversion. On the first floor there is a newly renovated kitchen with new insulated roof and Velux style window, canopied ceiling with exposed beams, new plastering and new pine floors, there is an old style wood-burning stove and oven at one end and a window seat looking out onto the balcony at the other. The lounge and two small bedrooms are still original and though perfectly usable they will need modernising, the roof above these will also need to be replaced at some point though it does not leak (only a little where a temporary flue was fitted) and the beams are in good order. French windows at both ends of the lounge open onto a small patio and the large covered balcony, there is room enough out here for a large table and chairs, we also have a gas bar-be-cue, a hammock and a swinging chair which also fit comfortably, there is a mature fig tree at one end for fresh pickings from the balcony. the bedrooms are reasonably small but still large enough for a double bed and wardrobe. Through the stable door from the kitchen there is a small covered porch and a toilet/utility room. Chestnut doors and windows have been fitted throughout the first floor and the original shutters still remain in the bedrooms. Most of the upper floor has been professionally rewired by a licensed electrician. On the ground floor there is a large room ready for conversion to two bedrooms and an unfinished bathroom, it is plumbed ready for a bath, toilet and sink and the electrics are ready but the walls need to be plastered, tiles laid and a ceiling put up, it is also accessed at present from the outside but with the conversion of the of the downstairs rooms and the installation of a staircase it will be accessible from inside. At the end of the property there was previously an attached two storey building, we took this down to one storey for the bar-be-cue patio but left the room below which could be knocked into from the main house for another bedroom. There is a brand new cess pit below the house and the house has all new drainage.

Our view of this property

The finished property would have a bathroom and two bedrooms (or three if you wish to use the concealed room below the bbq area) with French windows downstairs opening out onto the upper level of the garden, we have already strung wire and planted passion flower and kiwi fruits to make this a wonderful breakfast spot. Upstairs there would be a kitchen and large lounge with canopied ceilings and exposed beams, we would remove the small upper bedrooms to make a large lounge and room for a staircase in the back corner of the room, patio the small utility room outside would be perfect for a washing machine and already houses the water heaters.

The barn is in the process of being restored, it was given a brand new insulated roof and a ring beam to support the old walls, on the first floor there is a canopied ceiling with exposed beams and Velux style window, new concrete and wood floors with chunky joists have been laid, block-work for the bathroom is almost completed and some plastering has been done on the walls, the electrical conduits have been fitted ready to take the wiring and the drains have been laid in the bathroom. The ground floor room has had no work done yet, there is a door out onto the courtyard behind the main house. A builder could have this project finished and decorated within one month.

Our View of This Property

This barn would have a small lounge and kitchen on the first floor with a reasonable sized bathroom, a stable door would lead out from the kitchen to the path above the land, down a set of stairs in the back corner of the lounge is the ground floor bedroom, it would be big enough for a double bed and some fitted cupboards, French windows could lead from here to the courtyard.

The rest of the property on this upper level consists of a traditional bread oven room which has been fully restored to working order, the room has been plastered and painted and the ground has been gravelled, it makes a handsome entrance way into the courtyard at the back of the main house and to the part completed bar-be-cue patio, here there is outdoor lighting and a pergola erected, a concrete floor, tiles and some plastering is all that is needed to complete this wonderful space, there are views from here and the balcony down to the large terraced garden. From the stable door in the kitchen and the courtyard you can gain access to a smaller side garden perfect for a picnic bench with plenty of room for entertaining. You cannot see any houses, buildings or roads from the front of this property so you will never be overlooked.

The Property on the Lower Level

The second farmhouse and land are on the lower level which just touched the upper level garden at one lower corner. This house is something special, a handmade hookback gate leads to a private drive that runs along the upper terrace which makes a very nice entrance. The property is a ruin which will need to be rebuilt but we have the plans which show that the footprint is significantly bigger than what you can see of the house as it is. It is built on a slight incline which means that it could start from one storey at the top down to two at the bottom. There is land of around one acre of terraced land on this lower level planted mainly with olive trees, all of it is accessible by tractor or digger and so would be ideal for growing vegetables, a swimming pool or easily both, for example, as the land is on three terraces the lower terrace could be devoted entirely to growing while the middle terrace has the swimming pool and the top terrace can be paved for the cars. There are also some more secluded gardens among the trees behind the house, here we planted many spring flowering bulbs so it makes a lovely quiet place to hide! We planted many fruit trees on the lower terrace about three years ago some of which are growing very well, we used to mow the land quite regularly, now it looks very overgrown but I have included some pictures of what it did (and can) look like.

Our view of this property

This house would have a very large kitchen at the lower end with a deck out into the garden, there would be a large bathroom and lounge behind the kitchen and two bedrooms on the first floor. At the end there could be a garage or a third bedroom, French windows along the back of the bedrooms would open onto the gardens behind the house, ceilings throughout would be canopied with exposed beams.

General information about the properties

The properties are accessed by a dirt track about 500m long, parts of which are in poor condition, it can easily be driven with a 4x4 but could be surfaced with special hardcore for under 2,000€ which would keep it in drivable condition in any car for several years, we always counted the track as a plus point as it helps to preserve the  there is ''economy 7'' electric, phone and internet connected to the main house but there is not mains water, a small brook runs for some time in the winter and at present this is the only water supply. As far as we know a borehole could be sunk for around 6,000€

The properties are situated on the sunny side of the Sotão river valley which runs down to Vila Nova do Ceira, a few minutes by car, it is a very traditional village with a beautiful church and square, they have many festas here throughout the summer and there are three cafes where you can sit outside in warm weather. Also just across the larger river Ceira (which runs from Gois) there is a river beach, café and park with public barbecues and toilets. There is a post office, pharmacy, bank machine and shops in Vila Nova do Ceira but if you want more amenities, Gois, with a bank, health centre and many more cafes is only a five minute drive. Gois had two more river bars, a produce market every Tuesday and also has many festas throughout the year, the largest of which is the Gois Moto Clube Bike festa in mid-August but some of the smaller ones, eg. The autumn honey and chestnut festa are also very good. The university city of Coimbra is only 30 minutes drive, it has a hospital, shopping centres, cinemas and many bars and restaurants, there is also a train station where trains go to Porto, Lisbon and Faro among many others.

This was our home for three years but we moved out a few months ago, there are pictures below of what it looks like now, as we were working on it and when we were living there, because we had never planned to sell this property we added a lot of special touches that would not be there under normal circumstances, we made an extra special effort on the balcony and bread oven room, we have been forced to sell because of circumstances beyond our control but hopefully you will enjoy it as much as we did.

We have priced this property in GB£ so that you will not have to worry about the differing exchange rates, the conversion to Euros will be made on the day of sale.

Asking Price - £97,500  

See more photos Here See plans Here

Please contact us for further details and please remember to take a look at the buyers guide for details of costs and procedures. Need somewhere to stay? Click here for details of hotels and B&Bs in this area.