The House Marques de Oliveira has been home for the last four generations of my family.
The story goes back to the end of 19th Century and to my great-grandfather, when he
bought several one slice of land that eventually became one property only and built a grain mill on it.
The mill was a building constructed entirely out of wood.
The house itself was started by my grandfather as an addition to the grain milling and support building.
Over time the grain milling was losing relevance as an economic activity, so my grandfather decided
to dedicate himself to another business and opened on the ground floor of the house a shop that sold
products as diverse as food (fresh, dried, in brine, smoked ...), domestic utensils, agricultural tools,
fabrics ... in short: everything! My grandfather also built, on a site across the street, an olive oil mill.
From my family name we can spot that his old activity was the olive oil production in a mill that still exists
in the other side of the road, now a country bar that took some of the characteristic features of the original construction.
Also near the olive oil mill was built a garage, because my grandfather was the first person from Alburitel to have a car.
In the third generation, my father's one, the house was inhabited for some time by my uncle who did
the operation of the olive mill, since my father went to live in Lisbon dedicated to various other types of businesses,
using the house as a refuge holiday and rest. To better serve the House's new kind of use
my father undertook several changes and additions. These additions were made re-using materials, especially wood,
the former grain mill that my great-grandfather had erected. That can be seen especially in the living room ceiling
and some walls and mezzanine. We can clearly see the ceilings made of beams taken of the old building thus
creating an environment that transports us in time, until the end of 19th century.
My father also arranged to surround the entire ground with walls and transform the backyard into a lush garden,
where was also built a swimming pool. The former shop was transformed in a games lounge, former known as smoke room.
The House thus gained a new and higher levels of comfort.
Later when I got to adulthood and began to have my family, the house became my main residence, as was at half
the distance from Lisbon, from where I come from, and my professional life, at the time focused further north.
We were then at the beginning of the millennium.
Today, the House became again a holiday refuge, especially in winter. It is also where the whole family gathers
to spend the holiday season, especially Christmas.
