OUR STORY:

The original house was built by my paternal Great Grandfather Jose Felix and then inherited by his daughter (my Grandmother) Leonor Felix who married my Grandfather Jose Afonso Lopes.

My Grandparents (Afonso & Leonor) had 4 children 2 boys (one of them my father) and 2 girls all of them were born and grew up in the original house.

My grandfather was the town barber (there are many funny iconic stories in the village about him as he was quite the character) and his barbershop was located in his mother’s house (my Great Grandmother Carolina Lopes also a legendary figure in village history). Unfortunately, that house where the barbershop was located is no longer in existence.

After my Grandparents passed away in the late 1980’s. The original house was left to decay since the sons and daughters (my father, uncle and aunts) had all immigrated to the USA and Canada and there was no one to take care of the property.

I was born and lived in the house (now a ruin) on the back property and have many childhood memories of living behind my Grandparents house. I lived there until I was 10 years old when my family immigrated to the USA in 1972.

During one of my annual visits in 2017, over dinner with my cousins at a nice local restaurant, my cousin asked “why don’t you buy your Grandparents old house (ruins) so it could stay in the family?” My wife Dulce who had been telling me the same thing for a while, immediately said “that’s it we should do it!” And so, we did! We purchased the house (ruins) from the family in 2018.

Throughout the rebuild design process, we tried to maintain some of the original house layout while adding many new expansions, features and of course state of the art modern comforts.

The original house ruins were too far gone to restore so a total deconstruction and reconstruction was necessary. We wanted to save my grandmothers original brick oven but unfortunately it was too far gone and I had the bricks spread throughout the courtyard which is now paved with cobblestones. We did however manage to save my grandmothers beloved Japanese Camelia tree (one of the oldest in the region) in the front of the house. We broke ground on January 13, 2020.

Shortly thereafter in 2020, COVID19 hit the world and with it came lockdowns, material shortages and increased prices (ouch!). However, it also brought about the opportunity for Dulce and I to work remotely from Portugal and so we did. This was a blessing in disguise as it allowed us to make some great additional just in time design modifications which resulted in the final product you see today.

Our goals when we decided to purchase this property was to keep it the family so as to preserve our family legacy in the village. We wanted to memorialize my grandparents and provide a wonderful place that could be enjoyed by both our family and our guests for generations to come.

So, this is our story! Welcome to Grandparent’s Felix Lopes House. Please enjoy your stay in our wonderful house in the beautiful village of Foz do Arelho, Portugal my happy place and hopefully it will become yours as well!


Your Hosts, Jorge & Dulce Lopes