CASA VALHAL (Living the dream)
Welcome to Casa Valhal, a rustic 3 bed schist house, located in the village of Vinhó, a few minutes from Côja. The house has: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathroom suites, open plan living room/kitchen, cellar, bar, balcony and garden with terraces/patios and workshop. We love our old house and totally feel blessed!
The best part of Casa Valhal has to be the location and stunning views of the magnificent mountains. I am also so happy to actually own a 3 bed house outright with no mortgage. The house is large to us as we have been used to living in a small 2 bed flat with no garden in the UK. I often lose my husband and he can’t hear me when I shout for him. Owning a house big enough to lose my husband in has always been a dream of mine (ha ha). Maybe he is just hiding and trying to avoid me in the workshop AKA man shed.
I also love the fact that we are detached (the house not us – we are going strong). We have one neighbour to our left and one behind and nothing but scenic lush greenery to our right. In the UK we had a young couple in the flat above us who had weekly raging arguments which resulted in shouting throughout the night, female would pack her bags and leave then return the next day! To be free of this drama is heaven on earth.



We also gained a huge long table with 6 chairs and tons of glassware. I don’t particularly like the table but it is great to eat dinner at each evening. We sit at each end like a king and queen. The chairs kind of match my mustard coloured themed lounge and a cute tablecloth hides the 1990’s frosted glass look. Looking forward to buying an epic wooden table in due course.
12 Comments
Jaks Melling
10 months agoWhat a lovely view? Can I ask how did you decide on that house in that area? X
Helen
10 months agoHi Jaks
Thanks for being the first person ever to ask a question on my first blog. For us we had a very limited fixed budget so we had a list of essential criteria we wanted for the house: 3 bedrooms, garden, a toilet on same level as our bedroom, detached with no loud neighbours and a tranquil village away from tourist areas. For the area we knew we wanted to be within an hours drive of a major city and beach with no more than a 2 hour drive to an airport. We researched Central Portugal as houses are cheaper in this area and there are so many delightful little villages. We knew we wanted a peaceful quiet location off of a main road. We viewed properties in: Miranda do Corvo, Near Arganil, Penela, Lousa, Chapinheira, Alvorge, Castanheira de Pera, Serta, Pedrógão Grande and Vinhó. We just fell in love with our house immediately. I think the only thing we sacrificed is parking but this was not important for us as we knew we would be buying an old car and we have a nearby area close to our house for parking and have never had any difficulties at all.
I have wrote a bit more about our viewings and buying process in the INTRO page. There is also a post titled THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING A HOUSE which you may find an enjoyable read.
Thanks again,
Helen.
Rachael Corbett
10 months agoHi Helen
It is really great to see how relaxed and settled you are after your insane working life at CoBC. The views are to die for, and the work you have done on the house so far makes it very homely and inviting. I will look forward to seeing more as you work your way through the house.
Rachael C
Helen
10 months agoHi Rachael,
Thanks for your comment, it’s lovely to hear from you.
The views are one of the main attractions of the house and it really is just so tranquil here. After 8 years in a flat in Redland with no garden we are so thankful to have a garden and outdoor space of our own to spend time in during this current situation. Taking time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life like nature and wildlife and just to press the pause button for a while is just what I needed.
Denise Hagan
10 months agoHi Helen – great to see you relaxed and happy – your new place looks amazing – keep enjoying that wonderful garden and views , will keep checking back to see things. Denise
Helen
10 months agoHi Denise,
Lovely to hear from you, I hope you and your family are coping and keeping safe. The views are amazing but there’s still a lot of jobs to do on the house. I am currently sat in the garden with a cup of Tea (not wine as it’s 17.30 ha ha) and a Portuguese cake – Miss you X
lorraine barnes
8 months agoHi Helen,
I’ve just read your Blog and I want to be there right now 😁 I’m gonna show my husband this, im sure we will be asking lots of questions as plan our move to Portugal if you dont mind.
Thank you in advance
Lorraine
Helen
8 months agoHi Lorraine,
Have fun planning your move to Portugal. Ask any question you like and I will do my best to help you towards your dream.
Bye for now,
Helen.
Ali Brace
8 months agoHi Helen,
Wow!! Wonderful! You have been busy. I’m so pleased for you both Living the Dream in your new home it’s gorgeous. You deserve it, you’ve worked hard, beautiful scenery. I will enjoy looking at all your lovely piccies. So pleased your all well keep safe, miss you too! I’m having a nice day 😊 doing hot dogs for tea yummy!
Love Ali X
Helen
8 months agoHi Ali,
So lovely to hear from you BIRTHDAY GIRL! 21 again (ha ha). We are really enjoying renovating our old house and we never get bored of looking at the beautiful scenery. I will miss our get togethers. Enjoy your hot dogs – I quite like an Ikea hot dog. We are having Cottage Pie (not very Portuguese). I should have cooked a portuguese meal seeing as it’s Portugal Day but we haven’t long finished painting the spare bedroom and we made the cottage pies in bulk so we can just pop into the oven.
Bye for now.
Love Helen XXX
Paul
2 months agoHi Helen,
Just wanted to say that I loved reading about your experiences in Portugal and seeing your great pictures.
Thanks Paul
Helen
1 month agoHi Paul,
That is great to hear.
Much appreciated.
Thanks,
Helen.