Santar Vila Jardim

The Vasconcellos e Souza, family heirs to the Casa dos Condes de Santar e Magalhães, whose origins are traced back to the finals of the 16th century – decided in 2013 to invest in preserving and promoting their tangible and intangible heritage. It was a start to a pioneer project in Portugal where the Vasconcellos e Souza family made sure of inviting onboard other important houses from the village of Santar, in addition to the Misericórdia, to take part in this project: Santar Garden Village.

Lying in a popular wine region, Dão, the village of Santar boasts the unique feature of being crossed by an unbroken series of private and public garden terraces, of those which include: Casa dos Condes de Santar e Magalhães, Casa da Magnólia, Misericórdia Church, Jardim dos Linhares, Casa Ibérico Nogueira, Casa das Fidalgas, and of resting on vineyard gardens that strongly imprint the character of the place.

The project consisted of ennobling and prizing this great singularity, which spreads urbanistically in every direction, allowing us to uncover its secrets, its views, and its charms. It aims to reinforce the identity of the landscape and to express a narrative: to visit Santar, a historic village, through its gardens.

In the Santar Vila Jardim project, it was necessary to find the artist who understood the DNA of the region and who, subtly, with his own genius, worked with nature creating the work of art to ultimately return it to nature. Landscape architect Fernando Caruncho, born in Spain, a world reference in landscaping, understood the DNA of the region, captured the particular character of the region, and through his aesthetical and affective intuition awakened once and for all the dormant nature of the place, bringing to light all its intrinsic beauty.