The last surviving “summer house” on Quarteira’s seafront is about to become a protected piece of history. Loulé municipal council has approved the process to classify Vila Maria Izidra as a Monument of Municipal Interest, ensuring the preservation of one of the town’s most historic properties.
Located at 75–77 Avenida Infante de Sagres, the villa stands as the only original residence left along Quarteira’s beachfront – a reminder of what the coastal town looked like before being reshaped by mass tourism.
The initiative was proposed by Maria Isidra Contreiras, the property’s owner, and supported by the municipality to protect the building as a living example of the old “Bairro Balnear” (Seaside District).
Built in 1945, Vila Maria Izidra is a traditional “Portuguese-style” seaside house, complete with its original architecture, furnishings, and décor from the 1940s to 1960s. Its simple lines, traditional materials, and central rooftop terrace (açoteia) make it a rare surviving example of the Algarve’s pre-modernist holiday homes.
According to the municipality, the villa’s protection aims to preserve Quarteira’s collective memory, recalling a time when the town’s life revolved around fishing and the sea, long before it became a tourist hotspot.
“The Vila Maria Izidra is the last remnant of Quarteira’s former seaside district,” said the council, adding that its “classification as a Monument of Municipal Interest guarantees its protection and preservation” as a living memory of a period that ended with the rise of tourism in the Algarve.
For many locals, the little white house facing the Atlantic provides an increasingly rare glimpse into another Algarve – one where the region’s stunning coastline was still mostly populated by quaint houses instead of towering buildings and hotels.
