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Casa Modesta shows a lesser-known Algarve

Casa Modesta shows a lesser-known Algarve


By: César Brigante

Like so many others in the region, it started out as a family home. Today, Casa Modesta is a welcoming guesthouse

Five minutes from Olhão, a city with a rich fishing heritage, and with the Ria Formosa Natural Park right on its doorstep, what was once the home of Joaquim Modesto Brito, a ‘sea dog’ himself, and his wife Carminda was converted into a guest house by their grandchildren, Vânia Brito Fernandes and Carlos Fernandes. Located in Quatrim do Sul, in a place where the land meets the sea, far from the bustling tourist haunts and well off the beaten track, Casa Modesta provides a very different way of seeing and discovering a region that still has the ability to surprise.

From a time when a house in the country was far more functional than most, Casa Modesta stands out for the quality of its architecture, the clever use of the existing facilities and the dialogue established between tradition and modernity. This welcoming guesthouse features nine rooms, distributed across two buildings with private patios overlooking the Ria Formosa, a main room for meals with a traditional wood-burning fire, a solarium, an organic vegetable patch and a garden.

Making the most of its location, namely its proximity to the Ria Formosa, Casa Modesta has established a number of partnerships to maximise their guests’ stay: sailing trips, birdwatching or star-gazing, and massage or wellness rituals using local products such as olive, almond, seaweed or fleur de sel. Alongside these activities are the gastronomic experiences that promote the authentic Algarvean flavours from the mountains and the sea, and which include a typical family meal, prepared by, who else? Grandma Carminda.


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