Casa do Mestrinho -Cottage by the Douro River

A special house!
Douro, in Avintes (Vila Nova de Gaia), 8km from Porto. This is the perfect place to stay if you want to explore the beautiful city of Porto while simultaneously recharging your batteries! This is an ideal house for nature and quietness lovers.
You can visit the North of Portugal but you can decide to do nothing, just, reading, relaxing, enjoying nature, walking ... Here you can sleep peacefully.
You can stay during the day, down the street to an execlente river beach, bathe in the waters of the Douro and take a walk along the river Douro.
In our house you will be able to experience the best part of vacationing in a city and in the countryside at some time.

A special location to visit the North of Portugal!
What makes this a unique place? You can visit several nearby cities: not only Porto, the closest one, but also Guimarâes, Braga, Vila do Conde and Viana do Castelo) and, when coming back, you can sleep as if you were in the countryside.
It is 5 minutes away from the motorways that connect the North and South of the country.
Thanks to its location, the house is a good starting point to explore the city of Porto, the excellent beaches and natural parks of Vila Nova de Gaia and the beautiful towns, villages, mountains and natural parks of Northern Portugal.

Douro River!
20 meters down the street, you will find Avintes Areinho, a vast river beach with lifeguards, enclosed bathing areas, picnic park and bike path for cycling, running or walking.

The house
The house has three floors: in the lower one are the kitchen, in the middle floor one bedroom, the WC and the living room; In the upper one you'll find one big bedroom.
The beds are double mattresses of good quality and we provide clean sheets once a week.
The bathroom has a bathtub cubicle and a storage water heater for heating the water. There is a hair dryer and a first aid box. Clean towels are provided weekly.
The kitchen has a refrigerator, a toaster, a coffee machine, a microwave, a stove, an oven and all the necessary kitchenware to make your meals. Oil, olive oil and some basic seasonings are always available. There is a highchair for children for meals.
The house has free internet.
We live nearby, so you can always count on us to help you with whatever you need.

A special place!
This is a house for those who value living in harmony with the cultural and natural heritage of a place. With it, we want to contribute to the enhancement and reviving of this historical village. Espinhaço and the village of Avintes have been associated with the exploration of the Douro River, with agricultural activities and with supplying food to the city of Porto. Despite being very close to a big city, Avintes has a very unique identity, with its warm and friendly locals, its popular festivities, its famous corn and rye bread, its love for theater and culture, its multiple cultural and recreational associations ... Being close to the river Douro and to a large ecological park (Gaia Biological Park) allow for beautiful strolls and contact with nature.

The surroundings
In the surroundings of the house, the old narrow streets, alleys and stairs, keep the car traffic and its noise away; being so close to an agricultural and ecological reserve, the house allows nature lovers to hear and watch plenty of birds. You can also hear the neighbors and locals talking with each other on their way to the old grocery store on the other side of the street.

A special story!
This house was built in the 19th century by a man nicknamed "Master", the master builder known for having fallen from the D. Luís bridge, in Porto, when he worked painting it, and survived!
Before we bought this three houses property, 3 families used to live here, in a total of almost 20 people. About 40 years this was a very populated place, full of children.
Since we bought the property, in 2001, we have been renovating both the outdoor areas and the houses. All the work was done mostly by ourselves, it has been a passionate and enthusiastic task and we hope it shows when you stay here.
In the renovation of the house - largely carried out by ourselves - we tried to maintain as much as possible the originality of the 19th century building, preserving the walls, the wooden beams, the ancient floor of long and wide planks, the elegant window frames , the partition walls, the sash windows. We wanted to preserve the history and the identity of the building, reducing waste production to the maximum, reusing existing materials, using traditional techniques of conservation, renovation and construction. Therefore, we just added a more functional kitchen and a bathroom, a higher thermal comfort by refurbishing the roof, more luminosity and a glazed door overlooking the garden.

An ecological house!
This is an ecological house with regard to the techniques used in its restoration, and also because we reused old furniture. Along side with this, we created conditions for the separation and recycling of garbage.