The Origin of Cabana do Campo
Here is the story of how Cabana do Campo came to be, divided into four different phases.
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Phase 1: Placing the mobile home and living there for the first 1.5 years
Before we could place the mobile home, quite a lot of work had to be done. The land was overgrown, and the area where our garden would eventually be was one large field of clay. To make it quickly and affordably accessible, we laid down a thick layer of gravel. No more mud!
The day the mobile home was delivered was exciting. At the highway roundabout, about 2 km from the quinta, we met the driver. It took no less than three hours (!) to get the mobile home into place. A lot of pruning and clearing had to be done on the spot, and the truck driver had to manoeuvre endlessly. In the end, our neighbour used his tractor to pull the mobile home across the loose gravel. Just barely managed!
Once it was in place, we built a fence so the dogs, Bim and Billy, could walk around safely. Our temporary home of 27 m² had a living room/kitchen, two small bedrooms, and a tiny bathroom. With a wooden table and a homemade lounge sofa made from pallets, we made the outside area cosy. Despite the limited space, it quickly felt like our own little place. Still, we knew: this was too small for the long term.
Phase 2: Building the wooden house
Soon, the small space started to feel too cramped. We came up with the idea of building a veranda, since we spend so much time outdoors anyway. The ideal spot was in the corner of our garden area so we would have the shelter of the bushes next to it and so that our guests wouldn’t be able to look straight into our home.
When placing the vertical posts of the “veranda,” we immediately made a small mistake. The plan was for it to be 3.5 meters wide, but it ended up being 4 meters (we still don’t really know how that happened). Because of this mistake, the beams we had bought were actually too thin. So we decided to make roof trusses and build a pitched roof instead, because that is much stronger—and it meant we didn’t have to buy new beams.
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As the “veranda” started to take shape, our plans also began to change. I wanted to put my desk in the veranda, and Gust wanted to have a TV there… not very practical if it would be completely open. So we decided to close in the “veranda” with windows and doors so we could make our living room and kitchen there. In other words, it became a little house.
Through a second-hand marketplace, we found our windows and doors. We also came across a large batch of steenschotten. These are very heavy wooden panels with metal strips along the ends. They look really tough and were very cheap. Perfect for making the floor, we thought. So that’s what we did: we installed an insulated floor with those sturdy planks on top.
After that, we built the kitchen and our bar. The bar “had” to be placed there because the borehole (water well) is located underneath it. (There’s a hole more than 150 meters deep (!) with a water pump inside that we use to pump up our own water for the entire quinta.) Obviously not the most convenient spot, but originally it was only meant to be an open veranda, so that block wouldn’t have been in the way… now it’s probably the most illogical place you could imagine, but it is what it is.
Inside, our little house got the atmosphere of a traditional brown café or a forest cabin—super cosy and snug. The mobile home was still standing a few meters away, so occasionally having to walk through the rain to the toilet (which was in the mobile home) didn’t bother us too much.
Phase 3: Moving the mobile home and building a veranda
Until Mayke became pregnant and there would soon be a baby. We thought it wouldn’t be very comfortable if we had to walk through the rain with a baby, so we decided to connect the mobile home and the wooden house.
We decided to move the mobile home with a crane and place it closer to the house. We intentionally left a gap of about 1.5 meters between them so we could use that space for things like a washing machine, an outdoor shower, etc. We connected the house and the mobile home with a waterproof veranda. So we still had to go outside to reach the toilet and the bedrooms, but we could do it without getting wet. Very nice!
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The veranda turned out to be a very welcome addition. With three people, we simply needed more space. Bob slowly grew bigger and started to crawl. Because of the rough wooden floor, his trousers were worn out in no time. Not really ideal for a small child, but maybe it was good motivation for him to start walking quickly. One week after his first birthday, he was already walking ;-).
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By then we had also come to the conclusion that the bar we had been so excited about was never actually used. So we adjusted our kitchen. We transformed the bar into a kitchen island and a desk. Finally, a proper workspace instead of having the computer on the dining table—what a relief! Little by little, our home kept getting better.
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When we were expecting our second child, we decided it was finally time to deal with the wooden floor, which had become quite dirty by then. While heavily pregnant, we installed a laminate floor. What a difference! Finally a clean and smooth floor. Suddenly the house felt much more like a real home than a mountain cabin.
Phase 4: Renovating the veranda and creating the garden
By this time there were four of us, and we were really enjoying our place. In the summer, when Sam was a few months old, we finally had air conditioning installed. What a luxury! Still, it soon started to feel like we were once again running out of space with four people, and we also realized that the garden wasn’t actually a pleasant place because of all the gravel. You could only walk on it comfortably with shoes on—barefoot was impossible!
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We decided to renovate our home one more time and improve the garden as well. Sam wasn’t going to daycare yet, so he was home with us during the renovations. Not always ideal, but manageable. The veranda was closed in, windows were moved, and new floors and electrical wiring were installed. We also created a laundry/utility room so the washing machine and the second refrigerator no longer had to stand outside.
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One of our big wishes was to have a separate toilet instead of it being part of the bathroom. So in the small “hallway” between the mobile home and the wooden house we built a bathroom and a separate toilet. We even ended up with a real entrance hall with a front door, a coat rack, space for our shoes, and a broom cupboard.
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After that, we completely stripped the mobile home. Everything came out. We created three bedrooms and the hallway there. The walls were fully insulated and we also redid the electrical system. Removing the ceiling to create more height was also a great decision. To make the whole house feel more like one unit, we extended the laminate floor into the mobile home. Once the renovation was finished, you could hardly tell it had ever been a mobile home. What a huge difference!
The next step was the garden. An excavator removed all the gravel, and that very afternoon we spent more time playing outside than ever before! The dogs loved it too. So what would replace the gravel? A small lawn and large tiles so we could finally walk barefoot in the garden.
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Living in Portugal without a veranda is something we can hardly imagine anymore, so that definitely had to return. Because we also wanted to create more privacy, we combined those two wishes. We built a wooden fence, with the back of the veranda forming part of it. In July 2023 it was finally truly finished! What a wonderful place it became.
Since November 2024 we no longer live in this house. With pride, we would now like to share it with you. To make the house even more comfortable for our guests, we have also insulated the entire living room. As you may have noticed from the story, this house wasn’t simply “built”—it evolved over time. With its quirky layout, little steps, and light switches in unusual places, it’s a unique home. We hope you will enjoy it just as much as we always have!
