Casa da Quinta da Revolta, Porto

Casa da Quinta da Revolta preserves the domestic heart of an old Campanhã estate, also known as Quinta da Revolta or Horto do Freixo. Built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries above the River Tinto, it takes its curious name from a possible uprising that occurred nearby in that period. The Viscounts of Balsemão used the estate as their summer retreat; their arms still crown the entrance gate, combining the Alvo, Brandão and Azevedo families beneath a viscount’s coronet.

Notice the long, restrained character of the house: it has two floors and an L-shaped plan, with boxwood gardens gathered around it and a chapel joined directly to the building. Although substantial in scale, the house is deliberately plain. The chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of the Conception, and its interior tilework is a particular feature.

The property changed hands several times before the horticulturalist Alfredo Moreira da Silva bought it in 1918. His family still owns it, and the Horto do Freixo continues that gardening connection here. The house is protected as a Monument of Public Interest.