Lisbon’s property market has been heating up in recent years as the Portuguese city vies to become Europe’s startup capital.
But it’s not just tech entrepreneurs who are being lured to Lisbon. The city has a plethora of historic buildings that are ripe for renovation, drawing developers and ambitious individuals.
Here are five Lisbon properties on the market that are crying out for revival. They could be reborn as hotels, homes, art studios, galleries or coworking spaces – subject to the right planning permission, of course. We hope they find buyers with vision…
Sintra, Greater Lisbon
€7.5 million, via Engel & Voelkers
4 bedrooms
This 18th-century country mansion is already on the road to revival, having undergone a partial restoration. It was originally designed by architect Antonio Manuel da Fonseca Jr in a Neo-Arabic style and in 1886 the future King of Portugal D Carlos de Bragança and Maria Amélia of Orleans spent their honeymoon at Quinta do Relógio. But it fell on hard times through the 20th century.
Planning permission has already been granted for the residential restoration of the 1500 sq m palace – listed in 1997 as ‘property of public interest’ – but agent Engel & Voelkers advises that there is room to change this to hotel use, with negotiation. Structural reinforcement to the building’s foundations and walls has already been done.
A second, six-bedroom villa on the site has been restored by local architect Thiago Braddell and is included in the sale. This cluster of Lisbon properties also comes with around 5 acres of grounds, and a separate caretaker’s cottage.
Belém, Lisbon
€4 million, via Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty
12 bedroom townhouse
Sitting on Rua da Junqueira, close to Belém, this Lisbon townhouse is like stepping back in time. It was built circa 1850 and has a wealth of original features including blue and white Portuguese tiles in the hallway, parquet flooring, friezes, stone staircases and carved fireplaces.
The main residence is spread over four floors and has 12 bedrooms – plus attic rooms which were once the servants’ quarters. Reception rooms boast 10-ft-tall ceilings.
Several outhouse buildings are also ripe for adaptive reuse as private dwellings, and the property has commercial opportunity too – it’s touted for conversion into a hotel, subject to planning.
Marvila, Lisbon
€17.8 million, via Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty
Warehouse for adaptive reuse
The José Domingos Barreiros building is fixer upper on a grand scale – with a price tag to match. It covers an entire block of the Marvila neighbourhood and was built in the late-19th century as the rather opulent headquarters of a wine merchant.
It’s a thing of beauty, with Baroque-inspired facades and ornately tiled hallways, which date to 1928 and feature murals showing wine production in the region.
Venture inside rooms and you’ll find original wood panelling, floors, doors and mouldings that have been preserved across the four-storey building. So have lofty double-height ceilings, windows and pillars decorated with curlicues and cherubic details.
A range of uses are being mooted for the Lisbon property. An ambitious investment opportunity, it could be converted for residential, commercial and/or leisure purposes. Marvila’s Poço do Bispo is fast becoming the ‘Shoreditch of Lisbon’, its vast warehouses accommodating the city’s startup and coworking scene. The property’s adaptive reuse would be subject to consent, but a mix of the above might be a shrewd investment given its scale (and cost).
Sintra, Greater Lisbon
€3.5 million, via Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty
Carte blanche conversion
Often the hardest part of taking on an old, worn building is being able to see past dodgy decor and botched alterations done across the decades. Luckily, this sprawling 8,202 sq ft manse has already been stripped back to its bones, ready for conversion.
The property sits inside the Serra de Sintra region: a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the Greater Lisbon area, just 15 mins from central Lisbon by train.
Traditional tiling has been retained across the building, dissected solid wooden staircase snakes its way up the height of the five-storey property. Floor plates are a complete blank canvas, and the property is being marketed as an investment opportunity. While it would make a rather lavish private dwelling, it could also be transformed into large lateral lofts or a boutique hotel (planning permission dependent)…
Lumiar, Lisbon
€7.5 million, via Engel & Voelkers
7 bedroom villa
Quinta de São Sebastião is a seven-bedroom palace in Lumiar, said to have been built by the ‘Sun King’ John V during the 17th century, according to The New York Times. Back then, Lumiar was the respective ‘SoHo of its day’, popular with the country’s aristocracy who built their grand palaces in the area a few miles outside of Lisbon’s centre.
The main property is just shy of 1,000 sq m and has classical details inside its double-height rooms, with wooden flooring flooring, traditional tiles, plaster mouldings and elaborate ceiling frescoes. It comes with an attached condominium, a pool and formal gardens.
