Pico Do Refúgio
Pico Do Refúgio
Azores, Portugal
PICO DO REFÚGIO
AZORES, PORTUGAL
Thurston Moore, filmmaker Cláudia Varejão and photographer Daniel Blaufuks have all taken refuge at the artist residency-meets-boutique guesthouse known as Pico do Refugio. Spread over several hundred acres of tea farms with handsome flats designed by Lisbon-based architect Luis Bernardo Brito E Abreu, this stunning plot of land has been owned and maintained by Abreu’s family for more than 350 years. It boasts an outdoor pool for scuba diving lessons, along with verdant vistas and for breakfast there’s a homegrown soft white cheese wrapped in banana leaves that cannot be obtained elsewhere on this magnificent island.
The history of Azores is deeply intertwined to the land on which Pico do Refugio is located. For more than three hundred years, it was used, among other purposes, as a militia fort, artists' house, orange groves and tea factory. The majestic mansion located on the property dates the beginning of the XVII century. The Azorian painter and writer, Luís Bernardo Ataíde, used it as a country house and later it was the home and inspiration ground of the sculptress, Luísa Constantina.
For travelers, the property includes Country Houses of Pico do Refúgio, eight houses ranging in between 55 and 110 m² spread around two different areas of the farm. These are either “Lofts” or “Apartments. About 800 meters away, on the top of the hill (pico), near the main mansion, there are another 2 Lofts.