About Us and Quinta do Rabaçal

According to the older people in the nearby village of Vila do Mato, Quinta do Rabaçal (the valley of the parsnips) was once a lively and prosperous place where the people sang on the fields as they worked the fertile land. However, harder times hit the area and eventually the farm was abandoned and remained deserted until we arrived in 2002.

We are a dutch familie: Rein and Bien with our children Anne (1998) and Yannick (2000), together with our two dogs, two cats, chickens, ducks and a hamster called "grijsje".

We have restored the main granite farmhouse and used the original granite stones to rebuild the ox stable and oven house. The old oven is now working again and is used to make pizza & traditional breads.

Solar-power provides enough (220 Volt) energy for all the normal uses of us and our guests and there is a back-up generator for use when necessary. Water comes from a well situated above the accommodation, so no pumps are necessary as the houses are gravity fed. A borehole provides extra water during any summer shortages.

Heating in wintertime is provided by wood burning stoves, with almost all the fuel being harvested from the quinta.

Vegetables come from the organic garden and eggs are provided by our free range chickens and ducks. Potatoes are delivered by the local shepherd in exchange for grazing his sheep on the quinta's pasture.

Now a phone line and a partly paved, partly forest track is all that connects us with the rest of the world.

In 2009 we left the quinta and moved for Austria where we do live again in a beautifull valley, this time in the mountains. We run a hotel now: www.alpentraumhotel.at. The Belgian family Van der Straeten (with two boys from 1998 & 2003) is living on the quinta now, Mieke is taking care of the quinta and her guests with love.