Set across 85 hectares in the Serra de Grândola, ASerra is a new hotel and residential retreat surrounded by cork forests, rolling hills and views towards the Atlantic.
The project will include 22 villas, now available for private ownership, with exclusive tours of the site arranged upon request.
ASerra brings together Philippe Starck, Stéphane Delplancq, CEO of Larfa Properties, and Lisbon-based Atelier AAVV, with an approach that places nature at the centre of everything.
The idea is not to fill the landscape with architecture, but to create something that feels naturally part of it. Buildings will remain low, concrete structures will sit among the trees, and the surrounding vegetation is intended to remain a defining feature.
“After 120 years traveling around the world, I now know that the best place in the world to live is Europe,” declares Philippe Starck, deadpan. And of all the places in Europe, he favors France—and, better yet, Portugal, thanks largely to its people, whom he describes as “the last tribe in the world who have kept value, value of respect, love, honesty, kindness.”
The French designer makes a sweeping gesture towards the landscape. Beyond the terrace stretches an endless expanse of cork oaks, with a ribbon of blue ocean on the horizon. “The line of the sea, the trees, nothing, no vibration. It’s really very rare,” he says.
The model suite offers a preview of Starck’s vision, combining natural materials with unexpected touches of color and pattern, creating an atmosphere of playful tranquillity. Bespoke furniture, designed by Starck and made in Portugal, includes generously padded headboards upholstered in caramel-colored leather. For Starck, these are materials meant to improve with age, acquiring a richer patina over time. “What you see, this is forever,” he says.
In short, all the comforts of home, with nothing overlooked: a cashmere throw draped across the bed, a row of books above it, a comfortable reading chair, a discreet desk behind the bed, and a small dining nook with wicker chairs and a round wooden table, set for breakfast or afternoon tea. In the bath, three rectangular basins are carved into a single slab of rough-hewn limestone, illuminated by dark glazed ceramic pendant lamps made by a local artisan. The walls are lined with terracotta tiles designed by his daughter Ara Starck, with sculpted reliefs inspired by nature.
Ultimately, Starck’s ambition is to connect people. He’s even invented a story for ASerra: a family wandering in the aftermath of a worldwide catastrophe discovers the empty house of a writer and musician, with poetry and musical scores embedded in bronze in the walls and floors. A message leads them to the village, where people are cooking, singing and playing guitar. “We can stop,” the man tells his family. “That’s exactly what I felt when I arrived here,” Starck says. “I was everywhere all my life, but for the first time, I feel the roots coming from my shoes into the soil—I am home.”
Photos Courtesy of ASerra
