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In the north of Portugal, 30 minutes from Porto city centre.
The Court overlooks the Cavalum River, just before it joins the River Sousa River.
Located amongst farmland around the historic town of Paço de Sousa, in the district of Penafiel, an area rich in tradition and nature. The court is tucked away in a valley at the edge of the village, yet only a 7 mins walk to civilization and amenities. (bakery, butcher, pharmacy, cafe, minimarket)
Getting here and getting around:
Flying - Porto airport (Francsico Sa Carneiro Airport) has regular connections across europe and major intercontinental airports.
Uber 30 mins from the airport or from downtown Porto for around 30€
Local taxi - Joao the village taxi friend can take you back to the city or airport for 35€ if booked in advance.
Train 35 mins from Porto Sao Bento (central) station to Cete station which is a 20 minute walk to The Court. Costs 3€ per ride and runs twice an hour from 5am all day through to 1am. Porto has straightforward connections to the airport, Lisbon, Spain (Galicia) and major cities. Our local train line provides access to the Unesco protected Douro Valley and other excursion points.
Buses - run from the village (7 min walk) to the historic centre of Penafiel city, hospital and shopping centres.
GPS Coordinates: 41°10'29.7"N 8°20'05.7"W
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At a simple level it’s house sharing. If you’ve lived with family or flatmates, you’ll have a good idea of the pros and cons.
It can involve sharing meals, sharing activities, sharing toys and sharing laughs. Lots of fun and exciting experiences. But it can also involve sharing bathrooms, sharing food and sharing grievances. Less desirable things.
Here we’ve worked hard to create a space and experience where hopefully you’ll see the pros heavily outweigh the cons. The Court operates more like a mini village than one big house. Generous private spaces lead on to a shared garden from which you have access to an abundance of shared facilities. The kitchen, often a catalyst for house sharing frustrations, has been specifically designed to remove the frictions and irritations inherent to sharing in a normal kitchen and allow it to be enjoyed as the meeting place and culinarily creative space it should be.
Here there’s no strict timetable to abide by, your time is yours to do what you want to do. If you want a quiet night in, a solo adventure or a late night work session no one will stop you. But we do have structures that give you the opportunity to get involved as and when you feel comfortable. In our experience,most people find it’s just usually more fun not to miss out!
Arguably it takes a bit of bravery to do all this with people who aren’t already friends or flesh and blood. We know it demands a healthy dose of trust. That’s why our induction process is aimed at hosting a community of curious and caring people. You can trust that’s who you’ll find here to share your time with.
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Studio space and facilities (see studios pages for specific details). 5G ready wifi. Ethernet access points.
Accomodation. Double rooms with desks and ensuite, private and sharing options.
Self-catered kitchen with a well stocked pantry - our unique approach provides an extensive range of cooking facilities with unlimited access to all the food goods you need to produce an honest meal. Including seasonal fruits and vegetables, dry goods, house wine and culinary essentials (Meat, fish and specialty goods are available with supplementary costs)
Household supplies, utilities (electric, gas, water and wifi), laundry facilities. Linen - two sets of fresh sheets and towels at the start of your stay. Weekly cleaning of all shared spaces. (cleaning of private areas is available with a supplementary fee)
Support for comfort and creation. On site support for comfort during your stay. But also facilitation support is provided for you creative process.
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The following are available at additional costs.
Transport, catering, cleaning of private spaces. Meat, fish and alcohols. Cleaning of linen, dry cleaning and tailoring. Excursions. Printing and Translation services.
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In order to provide the best service to all the guests, we like to have a personal video call first. It’s an essential part of the process. We’re a small operation and we’re going to be living together so its a chance get to know each other! It’s hopefully a moment to reassure you that your needs can be met when your here, so not only can we answer any questions you might have - we can also start thinking about how to make the stay work best for you.
On the call we do like people to have a relatively clear idea of what they want to achieve while they’re here. Again, it allows us to plan how best we can support them. It also makes sure people are coming for the right reasons.
It’s a big thing to share a living space together and we want to promise our guests a positive and supportive environment.
For all our guests we’d like to provide them with a community of curious and caring people who are also going on a creative adventure. So when you’re taking risks and facing setbacks you know you have people around you who understand that and are willing to support you.
So we do some vetting at this stage but it’s really about finding out your plan and process and certainly not about examining your personality or profession. We believe in diversity as a catalyst for creativity and we actively welcome all people from different professional backgrounds and walks of life. Our only hope is that you’re open and respectful.
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The court is rural but not remote enough that you need to have a car. See ‘how do I get there’ for information on the transport connections.
If you’re an active adventure type however, we do really recommend you set yourself up with some transportation to get to all the awesome places there are to discover in this area and the north of Portugal. With so many treasures off the beaten track (literally), it really is worthwhile. Porto airport has a huge number of car hire services which are very reasonably priced outside of the peak summer months.
There is parking on the property, just let us know if you plan to park here during your stay.
A car is not necessary for food or supplies. The well-stocked pantry (included in the price) removes your need to do any bulk shopping. Household supplies are also provided. Most day to day items are available within walking distance. if you know you’ll need special products or perhaps you enjoy eating out regularly you may want to consider a car.
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There are 6 double bedrooms, plus Charlie and Sharlit’s, so the max occupancy can be 14 people, though it’s usually limited to 10 permanent guests for most of the time.
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Yes. Inviting someone to discover your temporary playground is fun! If you have someone to stay for one or two nights, there’s no charge for the stay we just ask for a 10 euro contribution to food per day. Any longer time needs to be confirmed in advance, and will be charged as a second guest. For longer guest stay requests, we ask all the courtmates and offer them the right to refuse it if they think it will negatively impact their experience.
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1 month minimum and 3 months maximum. Though if we’re all getting along and there’s room available for you to stay longer, it can be discussed!
During our opening year we are allowing people to stay for two weeks to ‘test the water’.
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In case of an emergency Portugal will accept you in their public hospitals.
If you are an EU citizen you can access the public health service for free with your EHIC card.
Our closest health center in Galegos and the large regional hospital are both 10 mins away by car. Obviously if you’re in need, S&C can drive you there.
The pharmacy in the village also accepts foreign prescriptions should you need to top up on medication while you’re here.
The village has a physio, an optometrist and a dentist who will accept last minute booking. Many other specialists are available in the local area.
On site we have a first aid kit and Sharlit is first aid trained.
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The house is pretty expansive and the grounds are large enough for you to hit your 10,000 steps a day if you wanted! But if you’re curious to venture further:
There are some running routes around the village, up the hills and into the forest.
There's a small circular walking route across the river bridge.
There are plenty of breathtaking hikes in a radius of 5 min drive away to 1 hour drive away depending on what sites you want to see.
There is a Gym 10 min walk away - they offer a 30€ a month pass for you to use all machines and access some classes.
There are regular inhouse activities with remote live sessions of yoga, pilates and dance classes. It´s an active house too so feel free to initiate your own thing and you´ll likely have a team of keen recruits/fitness comrades.
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The waterfall at the end of the garden is perfect for plunging.
The village has a public swimming pool 15 min walk away.
Many courtmates like to swim at the river Tamega, which is a 20 min drive away, and a frequent group road trip!
Or you can adventure (with caution!) into the high waves of the Atlantic Ocean on the beaches around Porto 30 mins drive away.
There is also a thermal bathhouse with a heated pool and massage jets 12 min drive away in Thermas Sao Vicente.
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You can get away with hand signals, smiles, and pointing because the locals are so welcoming and patient with foreigners, but if you want to go the extra mile and show them you’ve made some efforts in learning the language,have a look at this website:
https://www.practiceportuguese.com/simple-phrases-learn-visiting-portugal/
They also have an incredible amount of gestures we’re happy to teach you, but this video gives you a good idea:
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Professional cleaners come twice a week to deep clean the coliving spaces, studios and bathrooms. If you would like them to clean your private bedroom, let us know the day before and they’ll stay an extra hour and charge 10€.
We use low chemical cleaning products, some of which are homemade and these are available for you to clean your private rooms.
For the areas you share with others, the rule of thumb is to always leave it clean and clear for others to use. The kitchen especially must always be left clean and clear. Washing up and putting away dishes, cleaning surfaces, organising recycling and composting are considered shared duties.
And also don’t leave snacks for the farm creatures! (ie no food is to be left unattended in the rooms, kitchen or coliving spaces, otherwise something else may finish it for you!)
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Head to our price page