About

Montalma offers tranquility and beauty to rest, recharge and reinvigorate.

Once an abandoned mix of stone cottages and cattle sheds, it has, over the last four years, been lovingly rebuilt into a five bedroom, off-grid country home. We fell in love with the energy and potential of this wild, isolated corner of the mountain and bought the property in 2007 after it had been burnt out by a fire. Living here has given us a deep respect for the families that originally inhabited these traditional stone houses - the cold at this altitude that occassionally brings with it driving rains and high winds must have been hard to endure. They mostly farmed wheat and pumpkins and delivered milk to Monchique daily by mule.

Our intervention on the land has been to protect the existing natural flora, and the chestnut, fig and elderberry trees while re-landscaping the terraces and repairing traditional rock walls for gentler access. The many new trees, shrubs, herbs and flower beds planted have become established. We have introduced pigs, goats and sheep. Our work on improving soil fertility is now producing great vegetables and fruit, bringing us closer to the dream of a farm-to-table model that we look forward to sharing with our guests.

Our focus in building Montalma has been to create a comfortable home with high energy efficiency to reduce our carbon footprint. The quality of our insulation, our wood-fired heating system, solar-powered hot water and solar-powered electricity has resulted in an energy certificate with an A++ rating.

Montalma is constantly evolving as we work towards implementing the many ideas we have to enhance the harmony, bio-diversity and self-sufficiency of our home. We are continuously humbled by what we still have to learn and invite our guests to share their insights and experiences in sustainable living with us. We value the simple gifts that nature offers us daily and hope to share them with our guests.

Meet your Hosts!

We are the Dommett family and we will be your hosts!

John, is the ideas man with a background in development which now plays out in his favourite place, the veggie patch. Maggie brings the creative spark, still has patience for admin, loves cooking but struggles to produce the same meal twice. John Roy, the eldest, has become the ultimate Mr Fix-it, Build-it, Plant-it, Just-do-it. Dany, although the youngest, keeps us all focused and motivated with “we should do this, we need to do that, and in future….”.

We have been living in Monchique for twenty-three years and cherish our gentle lives on the hill after city careers in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since we took on the Montalma project we have increasingly suffered from “Upcycle Everything/DIY Syndrome” which sometimes gets us into trouble. Nonetheless, it brings to Montalma a sense that "things are possible" if you are patient and just "keep on keeping on".

We all love music, dancing, good laughs, honest interactions and the freedom of open spaces. We keep trusting and finding that a little kindness, love and compassion make for a better day!

Gratitude
Gratitude
Gratitude

A Big Thank You to All!

This project would not have come to fruition had it not been for the work, support and help of the construction team that persevered come rain or shine, our suppliers that were always understanding, and our many friends and family that gave us their emotional and physical support, their creativity, and their very generous hearts when circumstances were unforgiving.

A special thank you to Sr. Baltazar and Sr. Franco, Pasha, Eduardo, Mario and Lidia, Helen, Alison, Christoph, Angela, Marvin, Maria, Cristina, Clara, Dora, Sofia, Ana and all the workers and Woofers that have helped us and become our friends along the way. We would also like to thank family and friends who we neglected over the last few years while we have focussed on this project. OBRIGADA a todos!

We also acknowledge the support that we have received from PDR2020, Associação Vicentina & CGD.