Grandfather's Martinho House / COVO Interiores

© João Morgado

Completed in 2019 by Portuguese Architecture firm COVO Interiores, the Grandfather’s Martinho House is located in a small Portuguese village. The architects have maintained the traditional appearance and materiality, inspired by previous generations, and conjugated modern life comfort to renew the space and preserve its memory. All inserted, harmoniously, in the geography of the place.

Grandfather Martinho‘s House Technical Information

Grandfather’s Martinho House represents everything we believe in, life, individuality within the village, the granite that sustains protection.

– COVO Interiores

Grandfather Martinho’s House Photographs
Grandfather's Martinho House / COVO Interiores

© João Morgado

Grandfather's Martinho House / COVO Interiores

© João Morgado

Grandfather's Martinho House / COVO Interiores

© João Morgado

Grandfather's Martinho House / COVO Interiores

© João Morgado

Kitchen of the House - Grandfather Martinho's House / COVO Interiores

© João Morgado

Text by the Architects

The house, built in the 1940s, when Grandfather Martinho returned from Brazil, received a new family; the new owner is an interior designer who returns from the city to his small village TOURO, situated in Portugal’s interior. Located at 800 meters of altitude, the village has a thousand residents. In a small alley, the village is Grandfather Martinho’s house, 2 adjoining buildings with an annex, built-in stone.

The river, the Covo, the place, and the belonging are better understood in Grandfather’s house, our first work. The House of Grandfather Martinho represents everything we believe in, life, individuality within the village, the granite that sustains protection.

It was also a challenge to join the various arts, the many knowledge, combining works, and performing harmonies. Bricklayer, carpenter, and plumber. Constructor, painter, and electrician. All orchestrated in the baton of interior design, distinct tasks, gathered in the same goal, enable a comfortable life for two adults and two children.

The ground floor, formerly the place for the animals, gave way to the living room and kitchen. The contiguous building where grandfather kept the cereals and the wine kite will be transformed into a small studio, enabling the owner, a designer, to develop work.

Grandfather’s Martinho House was recovered, respecting the place, the moth, and the materials. Two granite floors, with windows that open to the street and the mountains, two rooms foreseeing the future, the chickens run through the courtyards—a house filled with memories and curiosities, full of future and modernity.

The main block, the house where the grandfather lived, welcomes the habitational space, divided by two floors, with 55m2 each. The ground floor, formerly the place for the animals, gave way to the living room and kitchen, divided by a central box of oak Wood, which houses the staircase and sanitary facilities.

The upper floor gives way to 2 rooms with their sanitary facilities.

The contiguous building where grandfather kept the cereals and the wine kite will be transformed into a small studio, enabling the owner, a designer, to develop work.

The exterior was preserved to the fullest, respecting the origin and the memory and the surroundings.

The thick stone walls are filled in the spans by thin, white-colored boxes, revealing the interior and conferring the stacked stone heap’s lightness and balance.

The grille of the wrought-iron porch has been restored.

The roof frame has been restored, taking advantage of chestnut wood’s original structure, the Marseille tile has been replaced.

Inside, light colors and minimalist language contribute to maximizing the boundaries constructed and visually clear the space that itself is already quite reduced.

The decoration of neutral colors with notes of moss color refers to the surrounding nature, integrating the belongings and values we believe.

Next to it, an annex houses the garage and technical areas, which is already a junction of various clones, small buildings that kept hay for the animals to eat.

It was so intentional to preserve the historical essence in this attached volume, rebuilt with a contemporary intervention, which was added to the building, in the form of the inverted cover that gives way to a terrace overlooking the Nave’s mountain range. The detail of the illuminated tear, which separates the stone masonry from the flat cover, gives it the modern touch, surprising the look.

We have maintained the traditional appearance, inspired by previous generations, and conjugated modern life comfort, renewing space, and keeping memory. Functionalized the space, the House maintains its original character, with new solutions, in old principles. Cement floor, wide walls, granite, and above all, lots of light. A house facing the street, structured by the village’s importance, integrated into the surrounding houses, observing and living with this place, simplicity, deeply articulated with space, the streets, and the built set. All inserted, harmoniously, in the geography of the place.

Grandfather Martinho’s House Plans
Floor Plans - Grandfather Martinho's House / COVO Interiores

Floor Plans

Grandfather Martinho’s House Image Gallery
About COVO Interiores

COVO Interiores is an interior design firm based in Viseu, Portugal, founded by José and Mario Morgado. Devoted to design and architecture, their mission and commitment rely on aesthetics, functionality, beauty, quality, and comfort.

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