Urban Design Apartment
Surrounded at once by sea and city, this architect-designed complex in Porto’s prosperous Foz neighborhood balances traditional seaside living with a contemporary urban vision. Historical facades have been retained and enlivened, marked by water’s edge balconies, expansive sea views and verdant private courtyards, while interiors offer a fresh take on oceanfront living via sleek urban styling, free of coastal kitsch.
A seaside structure that has been handed down for four generations, from great-grandfather to great-grandson, this revived waterfront residential complex bears the creative signature of architect José Carlos Cruz, a Porto native perhaps best known for his innovative commercial designs, among them a cork-clad hotel and a uniquely lit, unexpected pharmacy.
Artfully updated in 2020, the multi-unit building was created to highlight the intersection of the neighborhood’s traditional seaside rhythms with Porto’s buzzing, contemporary urban lifestyle. The structure’s original streetfront façade was retained and restored, and its beach-facing exterior updated by sleek, sea green tiles, loft-inspired balconies, and operable shutters.
Named for the massive offshore boulder that has served as a natural navigation tool for Porto’s sailors for centuries, the complex was created to stand firmly within its seafront traditions, featuring views out to sea and intimate interior courtyards that offer lush, enclosed spaces of respite. Each of the three apartments features a clean-lined, angular interior softened by nubby textile wall hangings, patterned throw pillows, colorful modern art, and cool, curated furnishings and fixtures. The overall ambience of this vacation home rental in Portugal is distinctively urban and sophisticated, with a nod to mid-century minimalism and a touch of mystery.
AROUND
Set in the Foz do Douro neighborhood, known by locals as an area that uniquely blends Porto’s seafront lifestyle with the city’s more cosmopolitan urban vibe, this vacation home rental in Portugal offers a privileged perch over the Douro River’s mouth and the Atlantic Ocean. The affluent neighborhood still bears traces of its humble, fishing village past, though you’ll have to dig deeply, looking beyond the long, luxurious promenades and aisles of waterfront restaurants and boutiques on the Avenida do Brasil, one of Porto’s most fashionable.
The neighborhood’s leafy Jardim do Passeio Alegre park offers additional lanes for strolling near the sea, and the massive sea wall is marked by a 16th-century fortress and picturesque lighthouse. Sunbathers fill the sandy stretches of Foz, beaches including the nearby Praia do Carneiro, Praia dos Ingleses and Praia de Gonarém. And there’s no better spot that the Molhe beach pergola, the 1930s-vintage Pérgola da Foz, to watch the sun set.
The medieval part of colorful, cobbled Porto (aka the Ribeira) shouldn’t be missed, and the waterfront district of bridges, barges and narrow, labyrinthine streets is enchanting. Other top sights in Porto include the Sao Francisco Church with its golden, gleaming Baroque interior, the Palacio da Bolsa, and port wine tasting rooms and cellars across the Douro River in Vila Nova de Gaia.
LOCATION
Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal. Nearest airport: Porto
BEST TIME TO VISIT: May through September
