Casa do Penedo (Penedo House) is located in the mountains that decorate the view of Braga and Guimarães: in the Fafe Mountains (coordinates: 41.488108, -8.067740). This consists of a small house, built between a set of boulders. It was built with the purpose of being a discreet place to enjoy family holidays, but its atypical construction led to its fame, attracting many curious visitors. So, taking advantage of the attention received and the impossibility of spending holidays in this house because of the large number of visitors, the family decided to make visits available.
The Penedo house is considered the strangest house in the world
The Penedo house opened in 1974 and is considered the Strangest House in the World. The idea for its construction originated on a family trip to Serras de Fafe, when a family looked at four boulders and imagined a house built between them, using the boulders as side walls.
The family's goal was to have a place to spend the weekends, quiet and away from the hustle. However, as a result of its unique style, it became a tourist attraction. And so, the house receives a large number of visitors.
The house is built from the roof down and still maintains the original delimitations, as well as the original furniture and does not yet have electrical installation. The house is currently surrounded by a fence. Therefore, we recommend that you search out the visiting hours.
Visiting the Penedo House
To visit the house you can book through the website (here.), which also contains the timetable. Eventually, you may have the same luck as us, who managed to visit the house after 7pm, as there was a great influx of visitors that day.
The visit has a cost of 2€, if it is only to the outside of the house, or 5€, if it also includes a guided tour inside and outside the house.
The exterior of the house includes the main house, a swimming pool and “Casa do Forno” (Oven House).
The latter consists of a house built in stone and located further on the edge of the property. Regarding the interior of the Penedo House house, and despite appearing to be small, is well composed.
The house has two floors, consisting of a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom, as well as three bedrooms. As a result of its construction, inside the house it is extremely interesting to see the rocks shaping the walls. Taking photographs inside the house is not permitted.
how to get there and where to park
Finding Casa do Penedo is, with new technologies, a very simple task. Google Maps itself already recognizes its location (coordinates: 41.488182, -8.067788) and is also able to indicate the best route, being about 22 minutes (13.2km) from the center of Fafe and located near Guimarães.
The way to the house, which can be done through two different roads, is on dirt roads. An interesting curiosity is that rally competitions are held on these roads, giving rise to its name, Rally of Portugal Street.
Casa do Penedo is therefore a mandatory stop for anyone visiting the region. The house, built by man, appears to have been shaped by nature and the surrounding landscape that frames it as perfectly as if it were a painting.
Update (2022): In the summer of 2022 we had the opportunity to take some family members to discover this place that we love so much.
The guided tour was equally enjoyable and the landscape is still breathtaking. There was only one small change: since our previous visit, Casa do Forno has been converted into a bathroom.
Needless to say, the people who went there with us were completely in love.
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