Casa Grande Portugal

About

Casa Grande is an Old Portuguese manor house which dates back to its completion by Francisco Nico in 1912. Sally and John Vincent bought the derelict house in 1972. They had been living in Chicago for five years and wanted to return to Europe. Portugal, at the time, was the least developed country and the government- looking for foreign investment-was offering Castles cheaply to outside investors. So the Vincent’s set off with their two young children in search of a castle to buy. The sales of castles turned out not to be quite true and instead, they switched their search to large houses they could convert into a guest house. After an extensive search, they finally fell in love with the “Quinta do Senhor Nico” now Casa Grande. The house had just one water tap and no electricity and over the next year the Vincent’s camped inside while they lovingly restored it.