Live and love in Central Portugal by the foothills of the Serra Da Estrela!
Introduction
Our property is located by the foothills of the Serra da Estrela mountain range, tucked away in its own forest. It is our personal sanctuary where we live our best life with our beloved twin kittens. We have complete privacy, peace and quiet, gracefully surrounded by nature. We require a well-seasoned couple with a track record of managing similar properties who possess all the relevant skills to become the temporary custodians of our land. The house needs to be kept tidy and well-maintained during your stay, that includes daily and weekly cleaning tasks and the land needs constant management in terms of mowing the fields and using the gardening equipment to keep the place in top shape. Our two beautiful cats, Jasmine and Lily, who will provide excellent companionship during your stay will need to be fed, cared for and loved. The duration, start, and end of the stay is flexible. It can be either until we return from our long trip or until the property is sold, as it is currently on the market. You will be well informed ahead of time regarding any changes to the duration of your sit. A minimum of one month stay is required and the maximum duration for a sit is 6 months. You will be provided with all of the equipment and gear you may need to perform the tasks at hand. Bills will be taken care of by us. If you are a professional couple that works remotely, who like to mostly enjoy your own company at home, and absolutely love and adore cats then this is the purrfect house sit for you. Send us a message and we will reply shortly.
Show more...Home & location
You will be staying and having full access to the entire house. Equipped with a beautiful kitchen, spacious living areas with beautiful views of the sunset and valleys, a courtyard with a grand work of art by a famous sculptor, a gym, two bedrooms, swimming pool, and your own vegetable garden all ready to harvest for your home-cooked meals. The house is equipped with motion sensor security cameras for the front of the house and the back, to ensure safety whenever we leave our property. The house is situated in a very private large plot of land where you can go for nature walks through the trees, traverse the ancient terraces, sit by the water mines, do gardening work, and enjoy the peace and quiet that this gem of a property blesses us with. The access to the property by foot is by a 5-minute walk through a forest road starting at a small chapel which leads all the way to the house. There are numerous taxi services in the area and you can easily book trips to access necessities. We prefer sitters who have their own car, prefferably a 4x4, because during the rainy season the drive in and out of the house can be a bit tricky for a normal car, but if you have great off road driving skills, it's doable with any car. There is a village store nearby with the basics, and the nearest grocery is a 10 minute drive.
Show more...Responsibilities
The property needs two people to be on site, preferably a couple. The amount of work can only be handled by two, and also it’s good to have a buddy when out in the forest. The house itself is fairly low-maintenance with daily touch ups of surfaces and floors as needed with the vacuum cleaner and a rag to catch the dust. We normally do a thorough clean once a week, washing the floors, cleaning both showers and toilets, tidying up any clutter, and vacuuming all floors and surfaces. The garden will need daily watering (unless it has been raining) as well as a few potted plants in the house. You may also continue to plant more vegetables in the raised beds if you are keen. The vegetable garden is fully set up with fertile organic soil, good sun position, trellises for climbing, and a watering hose nearby. The cats will need to be fed twice a day, depending on when they come in and ask for food. Lily and Jasmine are quite outdoorsy and can hunt for themselves, but will sometimes still come in to ask for a meal or just for a snuggle. They will also need access to fresh water at all times. Regarding maintenance of the outdoor area, there is a strimming machine and a chainsaw, you have to be ready and willing to perform daily and weekly tasks, there is always work on the land, and it needs doing! You will need to have some previous experience with using garden tools, but you can also get a bit of training once you arrive, it is pretty straightforward but some safety guidelines need to be followed in order to avoid injuries and damage to the equipment. Ideally we are looking for people with proven groundskeeping experience to create a regular work schedule for the different tasks. Regular strimming and mowing of the fields and terraces is required as during the rainy season in particular, the growth is phenomenal and has to be kept on top. As the property is for sale and there are ongoing viewings the property will need to be in its best shape in order to appropriately present it to potential buyers.
Show more...Meet the pets
Jasmine
3 years
Lily
3 years
Sitter Reviews (3)
Homeowner Reviews (0)
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A review was not left by the sitter.
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The home is so lovely and quaint. The area is quiet and the valley is peaceful. Jasmine and Lily are the best cats I have ever looked after. We had great fun going on walks with them and snuggling on cold winter afternoons. Sam and Alex were friendly and always looking out for us while we stayed in their beautiful home. The kitchen is fully equipped, the bed was so comfortable. Town is not far away and we found everything we needed within a minute drive.
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If you like peace and quiet in the countryside then this is a perfect sit for you. Jasmine and Lily are extremely sociable cats and full of love. They will follow you around when you go for a walk around the grounds of the property and love to hang out with you in the living room during the evening. They’re also very easy to look after - they get fed once a day and go out into the forest a lot of the time to play and hunt. They only use their litter tray if there is a storm outside so most of the time this is also not an issue. The house itself and surrounding scenery is absolutely awesome and a great place to work from remotely. The wifi is via a dongle but was sufficient for the regular video calls that we had to make for work. The signal from the office is much better than from the lounge so I did most of my calls from there. The living room has a cosy fireplace and a spectacular view over the grounds of the Quinta and the sprawling forest outside. You can also see the sunset from here which is great. The vegetable garden gives a lot of fresh veggies to look after and enjoy - tomatoes, chard, basil, mint, amazing red chillis, beetroot, lettuce, lemongrass etc. We loved harvesting the various veggies to mix into our nightly meals so this was a bonus. The gym room is also a really cool area for a workout and another nice touch. It’s definitely better if you have a car but not 100% necessary - we didn’t have one and we were able to do most things with taxis and a bit of walking over the course of a 2 month stay. There is a small shop in the village about a 20 min walk away for basic bits and pieces but a taxi is required for a proper grocery shopping trip a little further away. I’d highly recommend this sit for people who want to get away from the hustle and bustle. It’s even nicer in person than the photos which is saying something, and the cats are adorable!
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Samantha
