Why we're founding our first neighbourhood this way, who it is for, and who it is not.
Comparing countries. Trying to make a masterplan for your family, but second-guessing everything — weather, culture, safety, schooling, community.
You want to escape a busy, structured life to somewhere mild, grounded, and far enough from the noise to finally breathe.
We're building our first neighbourhood in the north of Madeira, and we're looking for the people who'd like to build its community with us.
And that's the point. This isn't just a home, it's a place in a neighbourhood being founded, and it only works if the people in it actually want to be there, and want each other there too.
A founded village, built around the land, and around the people who choose to be part of it.
Homes designed around real, different lives — singles, couples, young families, older residents. Each household has a place of its own.
Roughly half of the land stays green and unbuilt, and a large part of that is shared: garden, gathering space, wild landscape for everyone.
Community here is opted into, never built into the walls. Everyone has access to the shared spaces and the same share in maintaining them, while joining the garden, activities and events is always optional.
What we're after is simple: community, nature, and a more intentional way of living. Our project is our attempt to get there.
Building well is part of it. We intend to build with sustainable practices and sustainable materials wherever we can. Which materials, in what proportion, and which other practices, we will know as the design with our architect develops, and we'll share it as it is decided.
Some of it is already in the plan. In Santana, for example, the garden irrigation is planned to run on water from a nearby levada, built into the layout of the neighbourhood from the start.
We came to this island for different reasons, and found the same thing: a quieter way to live, close to nature, without giving up the rest of the world.
The north of the island is still what drew us here in the first place — dramatic, green, and slower than the south, which is changing fast.
Santana, in the north, is where our first neighbourhood is taking shape.
See Neighbourhood Santana →