Cressida, or Cress for short, featured in a recent episode of House Hunters International in which she purchased a property advertised through Pure Portugal. At the beginning of 2016, Cress left behind her life in London and a corporate job in finance, as she felt it lacked any true purpose.
After volunteering in Chile and learning more about permaculture practices she came back to Europe and found herself in Portugal. The landscape reminded her of her childhood home in Devon and soon enough she felt this was where she was meant to be.
After a short spell in Porto she began her property search for a house that would incorporate all the ideals she visualised, with the hope of inspiring others to live the permaculture ethos; earth care, people care and fair share.
Cress is now posting a series of vlogs which follow her as she embarks on a project to renovate her 150 year old traditional stone house in the Coimbra district. We are sharing below her vlogs as they are published so be sure to come back for more updates!
Intro – A Quick Tour
VLOG#1 – Feb 2018 – Ruin Renovation
VLOG#2 – Mar 2018 – Interior Design
VLOG#3 – March 2018 – Ups and Downs
VLOG#4 – April 2018 – Observing The Land
VLOG#5 – April 2018 – What is Permaculture?
VLOG#6 – April 2018 – The Reality Of Renovation
VLOG#7 – April 2018 – Updates On The Renovation
VLOG#8 – May 2018 – Progress!
VLOG#9 – May 2018 – External Rendering
VLOG#10 – July 2018 – Structural Works Completed
VLOG#11 – October 2018 – Amazing Progress!
First of all CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!!!!! Secondly, THANK YOU. I plan on doing something very similar in the near future and this is giving me an excellent feel to what I will be getting into. I have designed already built homes, but never tackled a ruin, so I am paying attention to your every word. Living in Argentina I am well accustomed to the ¨mañana syndrome¨ and it is true that accepting it and taking it in one´s stride is the sanest approach to it. Also living the experience instead of just hurrying to the end is a very enjoyable part of this enterprize. I look forward to your future blogs. Onwards and upwards !!!
Thank you so much for the lovely comments Judith, really glad it is helping to inspire you! Best of luck with your own project too! Clare – Pure Portugal