We decided to repoint the facade. Many of the old joints are cracked and therefore are leaking. Ants walk in and out, so it needs some work.

We are preparing for this year’s big job: re-roofing the ruin. But how do we keep our magical attic?

Usually, our neighbor listens to our renovation plans approvingly. But when he heard that we wanted to paint the house white again, he couldn’t keep his opinion to himself.

The worst thing about groundwork is that we hadn’t foreseen it and that we won’t see anything of it again.

We replaced the first balcony doors and the result was beautiful. After that it became different…

After we made our first outdoor stairs in October 2019, we dared to start with our ‘main stairs’ as well.

A local carpenter made our new old-style windows for our house in Portugal. They look great.

This is how we built a concrete staircase ourselves. It consists partly of concrete blocks. Then we poured steps from concrete.

We are renovating our house in Portugal. Today was a demolishing day. The old fireplace in the kitchen is gone!

One of the most difficult things about renovating the ruin is to keep its original character. In Holland we found…