Casa Na Terra is a bunker-style underground house that is completely integrated into the landscape. What’s more, you can rent it out. Olivia Palamountain reports
You’ll need your wits about you to find Casa Na Terra. The “house in the land”, this extraordinary Portuguese home is excavated from the earth and buried deep into the landscape so that only fragments are visible from above.
Located two and a half hours from Lisbon, near the town of Monsaraz, the house benefits from a position near plenty of historic places of interest, including a view of Europe’s largest artificial lake, the Lagoa do Alqueva.
Casa Na Terra was designed by architect Manuel Aires Mateus, with the intention to honour the natural surroundings of the Alentejo region as best possible.
“The house is located in an area where construction is not allowed,” Aires Mateus told Wallpaper*. “Our ecological responsibility was also to make the house disappear into the landscape.”
Winner of Arch Daily’s Building of the Year 2020, this predominantly concrete house has been built into the ground like a bunker.
The only visible elements of the building are the patios and a domed skylight that covers the communal areas and an outdoor patio, intended to visually connect all the rooms to the natural surroundings.
According to Aires Mateus, the interiors have been inspired by the idea of silence. Concrete is softened by warm natural woods and bespoke furnishings, many of which have been crafted by local artisans using local materials.
Prices start from €350 per night in low-season to €600 per night in high-season (breakfast and daily cleaning are included).
