History of the Villa & it's Family
History of the Villa & it's Family
This beautiful property was where our father, Moises was born and raised. Moises, the youngest of 13, was born on the 3rd May 1940 in this property and stayed there till he followed a few of his siblings to work and live in South Africa in the late 1950's. This was a very common trend in the country as life was very tough on the island and there were not that many opportunities of work so many Madeiran's ended up living in various parts of the world. There are many expats of Madeira that moved to South America (Brazil, Venezuela), South Africa, Angola and even Hawaii to work in agriculture such as sugar plantations or fishing(believe it or not). Moises returned to Madeira island in the 1970's where he met my mum who was looking after his brother and they fell in love. In 1975 they relocated back to Cape Town, South Africa which is where we were born and raised. This is the home my father spoke of throughout our childhood, where he dreamed of a time that we could all return as a family. Sadly we never got to realise that dream as he passed away in 2004, 2 weeks before he was about to see family in South America and then back to where his homeland, Madeira.
However, there is a silver lining as in 2016 I finally had the resources and support to start thinking about reviving this legacy that had been left to us. With the help of my lovely father-in-law and husband this would not have been possible. There was a tiny spanner thrown into the works when on my first flight back from Madeira where I had instructed the painters and renovators and handed over the keys, I found out I was pregnant! We did as much as we could right up to when I could no longer fly because I was too heavily pregnant and then our twins arrived in the September 2016! Hmm, maybe it wasn't a coincidence after all!
As you can imagine, we were a little occupied for a few years, so the transformation took longer than what we had hoped for however, we managed to update the property inside and out including the transformation of the original vineyard into a beautifully landscaped tranquil garden area with a heated salt water pool and space to unwind and relax in.
This traditional Madeira home offers a self catering space that is fully equipped with all the comforts you would expect to have when you are away from home.
3 Bedrooms – 2 dbls and 2 singles
1 bathroom with bath, shower and bidae
1 shower room downstairs
1 ‘cinema’ room downstairs with a flat screen TV which has all the local channels and ability to use Netflix
1 fully equipped kitchen with a smart TV and dining room table
1 Bbq (braai) room
Washing Machine
De Casa Villa was something I wanted to create to allow us to keep the property in our family. Running De Casa Villa allows us the opportunity to enjoy the property as a holiday destination so that can share the history with our sons and so that it could look after itself and to ensure that it was lived in and enjoyed by people from all over the world. To be honest with you I feel responsible for making sure that the legacy lives on and that we get to tell as many people as we can about this wonderful place, Madeira island, which is often undersold.
I wanted to try and make sure that we were able to use the property and be able to share it with our offspring in years to come and be able to say “ this is where your Avo (Portuguese term for Grandad) grew up”.
