As someone with family roots in the Beira region, I feel compelled to compliment you for preserving our vernacular architectural heritage. Keep up the good work, and thanks for the value content!
Yes! My thoughts exactly. My roots are in Beira Litoral, the buildings here are not exactly the same style, but these old buildings do spark a lot of memories in me too. I really appreciate keeping them and giving them a new life. Thank you!
The holes in the wall were used for kerosene lamps. My house in Goa too had these holes all over, as my house too is built with Portugese building techniques and architecture. these holes were used for lamps and to put wood beams in them to climb up towards the roof or the higher sections of the house to get any work done in those sections.
regarding the holes in the wall, if theyre equal height and dimensions, maybe they were originally for timber to be stuck in with boards on the outside of the building to act as a form of scaffolding platform for building/repairs etc? I seem to remember that being a thing in old buildings. Just a thought :)
I was not convinced regarding these old buildings until I saw what The Indie Projects did with their stone barn. It is really stunning now. And having enjoyed your videos of your previous renovations I am so excited to see what you two will come up with. Whatever you are planning I know it is going to be pretty spectacular. I love your vision. You are an amazing couple.
100% agree re making unloved into beautiful. That is what we are doing in Friumes. It is so satisfying, I could repair stone walls all day every day at 60. . BTW we have those tiny square holes as well. They had wine bottles stuffed in, the odd shoe as you no doubt have found too. We intend to make wooden frames with a mesh to keep open all summer, and make a tiny wooden shutter to enable them to be closed up snuggly in the winter.
Totally agree with what you say concerning demolishing the building to it's foundations. Considering the cost, and legalities, It's obscene to even think of that, renovating to your standards would help enhance it's character, along with the joy in making it look brand new, with the love, and determination, to a whole new exiting project to be proud of. It will look absolutely stunning when complete. 👍
Kindred spirits. Save what is beautiful craft and materials and make it/ help it (French drains s) work for today. So love / enjoy all you both are doing. Thank you for sharing the oops and successes.
Hello... Move the breakfast table away from that pole... Enlarge (60 deep) sink cabinet and put dishwasher on the side of the sink, keep also 60 module between breakfast table and tall cabinets... Or provide the inside measures to ikea and ask for their design / solution.... I guess they will do it for free...
here in america they always tear down and just rebuild.....we have lost SO MUCH unfortunately. love that your tying to retain as much as possible of the old. watching your channel because YOU ARE saving the old.
I love old buildings with all my heart and it makes me very happy to see one restored with the utmost respect to its history. What you said about the rendering of the walls reminded me of carlroger's videos (father and son restoring an old French farmhouse). On top of absolutely stunning carpentry, they use a rendering technique that sound like what you are trying to get.
Cant fault the reasons for sticking with the existing building. Bearing in mind the experiences of using contractors on earlier projects and the requirement for reliance on registered builders for a new build Ii would add the fact that you keep the ability to control as you are your own customer and nobody else can affect your progress. I say that slightly tongue in cheek as plenty of other things can still upset the apple cart .
You have to take a look at the walls: the technic was to build 2 stone rows against the other, and between a little distance. At the edges, door frames or at some staticly important points they put big stones ( in german we call them 'Binder'...they bond together...) on the '2 rows', to stabilize the wall. The benefit was, the wall insides was well airconditioned, dry and cold. The holes in the wall are to have a bigger circulation. This is Portugal, and the heat in summer is unimaginable, if You build with modern products...so, keep the holes open and plaster with lime.. silicat colour only.... You will have the best and strongest air in Your house! I think, this at once was the intention of the builder
Hi there, No! Do not knock it down. We renovated a 100 year + shist building in 2012. It's not easy, it takes time, it's hard work but we love it! We had a very empathetic structual engineer who designed a sub-frame to take the weight of the upper floor and new insulated roof so that the lack of proper foundation (original house is built directly on the bedrock with a natural stream running through it in winter , hence French drains) wasn't a problem. We pm'd Kylie back in sept 21 about the BCS if you want to contact us to see what we've done.
Good day to you guys, watching other channels and all the research people have done the holes in the walls was for wooden pole used as part of scaffolding to help build the building. Take care and God bless 🙏💚👍🇬🇧....Simon
It was fantastic running into you guys today. Crazy how life happens. I was missing you all from Eco & Beyond. I love the kitchen design. I had one question. Is the space beside the dishwasher on the back wall going to be empty space? Will there be a cabinet back there? If so I’m interested in how you might utilize that space. Those corner spaces are hard to find solutions to maximize space and get items out of those crevices. Anyways Cheers and glad I’m back connected in with you all.
As I've noticed on other reply about windows size and position of the ground floor, you'll manage with what you've got, but seems to me that the originals were placed not for common use and they seem to be a bit unporpotional in relation to the walls. It's a pity 'our' Portuguese strict laws and burocracy with these kind of small changes. The house is beautiful but could have more generous windows, lighting it completely and give better inside views to the surroundings. You both are an absolute inspiration. Keep it going. 👍✨
Oh no...the charm of an old building will never be found in a new build...you are perfectly right in restoring the house and keeping the soul of it. It will turn out absolutely wonderful I'm sure...love your channel and the Indie Project...your two houses will probably be the two best quality hoses in Portugal when you are finished 🤩...🥰
Thank you for preserving this example of traditional rural house. It seems we locals don't really value this type of style and just populate rural villages with bland copies of architecture.
Kitchen looks great! those pull out cabinets on both sides of the fridge/freezer is a great idea. They utilize the space and are great to use. Otherwise with a standard cabinet you would just use the edge of the shelves. Definetly apothecary style pull out cabinets! For the holes in the wall you could make them nice ambient lighting. They are just at the right height to lightly illuminate the countertops. You wouldn't need bright lights, just some faint warm led lights. They would be more for mood lighting and night light for a midnight snack. Maybe put a frosted glass deep in the hole to make the light more diffused. you could put some nice colored glass object infront of it to make it look even nicer
I've just come across (ok, the RU-vid algorithm showed me!) your channel. Enjoying it so far and subscribed. I'm also subscribed to Martijn Doolaard, who you may be familiar with, restoring a pair of barns in the Italian alps. His buildings also have those small square cut outs in the walls, which were for anchoring scaffolding in order to build higher and for somewhere to stand while putting on the stone slab roof. Just a thought. Cheers
It was built in a time where there wasn't really electricity so they built them in ways to keep cool. Structurally it's pretty sound. If you can preserve the history then that's awesome.
Agreed, for what it's worth. New build anywhere in the world is a headache plus usually charmless. New build which is self build can be great, when allowed.
Well after listening to you go thru the long justification for renovating your house, I think you left out the FUN Factor ! You've said all along that you get great satisfaction remodeling and I surmise that you just would not have bought that property if not for the fun challenge ! ?
Love your videos and that you are preserving the beautiful building. A couple of questions about your lovely kitchen design. Mainly the flow, since I don’t read sketches well. Will the entry opening to right of pole be wide enough for two people to walk through? And will it be blocked by an open oven or dishwasher door? I had a kitchen like this and found it uncomfortable to have a narrow opening and more so with an open appliance door. Thank you for sharing all your great work.
For Q&A Monday: what are your plans for getting rid of the dug up existing floor and other stones n such? In previous videos you were dumping a big pile on the property so I was wondering what one would do with all the extra material. Thank you for your videos and letting us join you on the journey.
Apart from all the reasons you mention for not knocking it down another, important reason, in my view, is that the building industry is one of the most polluting industries worldwide, so instead of this craze everywhere with knocking old stuff down, one should maybe think much more about using what is already there, modernizing, updating it etc.
ONE TO TWO YEARS FOR A DA??!!! And here I was whingeing at my local Council for taking 8 weeks just for a garage/shed (had the help of the builder to push things through) - but normally the wait time here is 6-9 months!
I love all the perks of the old house! You are doing a great job. I'm sure everything is thought trough, but have you thought about switching things around and put the counter top with the stove on the left wall (making kind of a continuous U shaped counter) and do the tall units along the right wall?
The problem with that is you end up walking into a wall of units when you enter the room ... it will also block the light that comes through the exterior entry door (it is a design we originally thought of)
I know this is a lot of work, but Europe has so many ancient buildings compared to the US. Mom was from Regensgsburg, Germany. Their church was built in the 11 th century. It had a moat in the beginning. They have to maintain parts and clean black sut off but it is extremely well built. Compared to our country at 200 years old. Your home could stand for many centuries and worth a lot when you think about it.
Great content and as you stated its work that your allowed to do yourself, no builders. So that equals no disappointment when the job done does not equal the expectations as is quite often the case when you hire someone to do something. If the job is not right then you only have yourselves to blame and you get the opportunity to do that job all over again correctly this time. I love the dedication needed to do a proper job and you two have shown plenty of dedication. This project will take years to do properly as you are doing and I just hope I am still alive when its done as I would love to see this through. Keep up he good work and thanks for posting.
knock it down are people crazy, have they ever tried to knock down a stone house, some people need to see a specialist in the head department, once the house is all done out the house be worth a damn sight more then a newly built one thats for sure, have yous thought about redoing the outside of the house ?? if this was my house id be leaving nearly all the stone walls and plastering very little
Looks good guys! Just a comment on your kitchen....are you having no drawers? Also you will need a corner post on the left side of your 400mm deep unit next to the sink which returns next to the tall pull out unit. If you don't have this then you wont be able to open it due to the worktop overhang. Also on the dishwasher corner too! I've probably explained the terribly mind..😁
just a suggestion for the timbers and doors/floors/lintels... I use a mix of Pure turpentine (not turps) and boiled/raw Linseed oil mixed like salad dressing.. You can paint on or apply with 00 00 wire wool (then buff off) The wood will soak it up and then you can buff it. Its amazing for feeding and polishing the timber and has a role in keeping out worm? I have just finished doing 70 square metres of flooring; window lintels and an old mahogany table..
I tend to find that linseed leaves a slight yellowing effect on timber so tend to use Tung oil. I’ve not tested on chestnut yet, but will probably try a range of oils to see which leaves the best result and colour. The beams have many years of grime, but once sanded back they should be lighter and I’ll want to preserve the natural colour as much as possible
Would be really cool if you would share the SketchUp file. Maybe some people would be able to adjust it and come up with ideas that they can send back to you for inspiration :)
I maybe be jumping the gun because I've not watched the video yet but It might be easier to knock it but that gout nothing to do with it If I remember correctly For You too it's about the challenge of learning new things and techniques about how they did things and history
I know this is late to the game, but why are you trying to cram two eating spaces into that one room? Why not back the bar up closer to the door so that the pole is on the other side of it, add a nice big fridge to the bank of built ins and some? Shelving and decorations on the wall by the door? Enough room for eating at the bar, more spacious feel and keep the bar from cramping the kitchen? Okay, had my two cents worth...I'll sit down and shut up now. Love your videos. Love the building.
The logic behind the demolish license requirement is the same as requiring one to build - you need to show that what you are going to do doesn’t affect others or infrastructure.... the problem is that the bureaucratic process is slow. In your case, however, you might not need a license to demolish your outbuildings, because it should fall under the category "Obras de escassa relevância urbanística" - you might however need to inform about it. For you to build a new house on a terrain that is classified for agriculture use, that terrain would need have at least 1 hectare - in some municipalities they might have a smaller minimum, but not much less. So it’s not as easy as buying a small plot. And the maximum footprint for the all project would also be tied to the terrain area since there is usually a maximum "ground impermeabilization index".
I went through what you are now doing over 40 years ago now in the Algarve .Yes the result is old and charming and everyone loves it .But many times in the subsequent 30 years of continuous maintenance costs ,care and attention to the traditional and original construction I have cursed it and thought I should have flattened the original ruin and built an exact replica incorporating all its charm and original features but eliminating all the drawbacks with modern construction techniques .Like a damp course for starters! Now the time has long passed .And the whole regulatory frame work for building work now in place didn’t really exist then .And costs were then minimal compared with now .So it will see me out and it is now just part of my history and life. .Would I do it again in todays context ? Probably not !
Ps it took me 10 years from ruin to home as I did 90% of the work myself with some help to reroof ,a bore hole company and the hire of a JCB and driver which was a life saver, as we have moved a lot of the immediate landscape about as well .
New windows need planning permission unfortunately, so we have to manage with what we’ve got and supplement with clever lighting. We do have a few ideas 😀
I took have seen what the Indie Project has done with an old stone building and look forward to seeing yours completed. What are you planning for the doors, wood with a lot of glass for light? I do understand your vision. I just could not imagine putting in the kind of hard labor while camping out. When do you expect to be able to move into the house?
I love your house and property! The windows casements are cool and on the ground floor the stone walls are gorgeous. I look forward each to seeing your progress. I do have a question. Do you have to deal with building inspectors? I live in Florida and we did an addition/renovation and we had inspections for everything.
Great video! Thanks for sharing! You guys are awesome - my response would have been a 1 min video -- "cause we don't want to". Lol! Just kidding! Rock on!
I have never understood people who buy older homes only to knock them down, and cut down all the mature trees. If that was your desire buy an open field and start with that, save yourself demloision cost and leave the older architect to those of us who really appreciate them.
I don't like your kitchen layout. You shouldn't have closed the doorway. Make it a big window so more light can come in to the kitchen. Move the eating area next to the window, put the cooktop in the middle next to the pole. Do you need a standard dishwasher? you can have a compact one. Look it up. I love this kinds of renovations. Love your videos.
@@MAKEDOGROW Maybe I am not fully understanding how the floor plan works. I was just giving my 5 cents!!! I am really into these kinds of renovations and projecting how things would look like. All the best!
You mentioned you're going to build the kitchen yourselves, and that reminded me of a couple of videos I saw recently of a couple that does exactly the same, i.e. they build their furnitures (and indeed their whole house) all by themselves. They are also expats living in Portugal, a bit to the south of you (in Alentejo). I find them very inspirational in the way they work, very organized and methodical. You might like to see their work: ru-vid.com
Great video. I will never understand people who react to a historical building reno with "why not just knock it down." Regardless of whether it would be cheaper or not, you'd get a very different product at the end, and one which would be of less value, too.
People in Europe already know that what you are doing is completely right for Europe. It’s possible that people from other countries may not understand what the laws are in Europe and UK. They see it in relation to what they can do in their country IE- wood construction which is easy to replace and demolish, simple too build with very little skills sets. Your doing amazing work 👏👏
I live in Greece where we have a lot of old, gorgeous, derelict buildings. Unfortunately, the mentality here is to pull them down, always replacing them with a new, ugly block of flats, made from poor construction materials, like cement and cheap hollow bricks. No damp proofing whatsoever and within a year of construction, these flats are riddled with damp and peeling paint. It *REALLY* p**ses me off! (especially considering our history in Architecture). Why anyone would choose plastic windows and a cement "box", over wooden beams and thick stone walls (and history of course), is beyond me. Moreover, another thing that riles me is when they go and cover 100 year old terrazzo floors, with cheap, white, shiny tiles! It's maddening! 🤯 ( Rant over ...)
From previous experience of replacing 7 kitchens, the one recommendation I would give is look at Draws for your cupboards either side of the cooker 2 deep draws with a smaller internal upper draws for cutlery & utensils, bottom part is deeper for everyday pots/pans. So much easier than getting on your knees to reach too the back of each cupboard. Likewise the tall thin 400 cupboards either side of your fridge & freezer go for individual slide out internal drawers otherwise they get very heavy & don’t last long. Iv done both & by far the individual ones are so much better long term.
We agree about adding drawers. They make life so much easier. Also I would suggest that you might measure what space you need for those pull out/swing out inserts for the corner spaces. They can help maximize storage in areas that tend to be neglected.
we have full extension drawers in all bottom cabinets and I had the insides of the drawers dadoed for thin plywood removable inserts. some are parallel to the front of the drawer and shallower drawers run perpendicular to the fronts, love the organization aspect.
Nocking down the house would be a shame. Glad that you want to preserve it. One question regarding the interior style. Do you plan to have it modern or more rural style? I could imagine that a modern plain and simple style would be an interesting contest to the old building and exposed stone walls.
I think the house is beautiful and cries out to be preserved! When I visited Belem in North of Brazil there was a ranch with a square house like that and they had a deck built all around on the second floor and it was beautiful and rustic looking. There is always so much potential to renovating your home and finding ways of adding your own stamp on it. You are very blessed.
At 73 I'm so thankful that I now have a kitchen with mostly drawers and not cupboards...........there is no way I can bend or kneel to access most of those shelves.............and most of my drawers are 8" 10" and 12" deep.....:)
Hello I’m a new subscriber from Georgia USA. Why would anyone tear down such a cool old structure, it’s awesome. Looking forward to watching your progress. I really like old houses that have character that you don’t find in most new homes that are poorly built.
Can I suggest building the wall cabinet units to the ceiling where the refrigerator will be? It helps the room feel taller and less broken up. I love that you are renovating this building. I appreciate all historical buildings and homes, grand and small. Although rustic, I do believe is going to be a very stylish home. I love imagining how people may have used a space or a tool. Thank you for sharing. You both are so talented!💗
Absolutely agree about building units to ceiling. Had that done for myself in my garage flat two years ago, adds extra storage for all your bottled goods, removes hassle of cleaning on top of kitchen units.
