A three-bedroom apartment to rent in Alcantarilha, under a hand-made ceiling.

Most long-term rentals in the Algarve are new-build flats in a block behind the coast road. This one is on the first floor of Casa da Coroa, the Crown House — a red-oxide manor that has faced the parish church of Alcantarilha since the early 1900s and was classified a building of Municipal Interest in 2003. It has just been through a full restoration: seismic reinforcement, a structural upgrade, and thermal and acoustic insulation to current regulations. Six homes now sit inside it. This is the largest on the first floor.

Walk into the living room and look up. The timber ceiling was made by hand to replicate the original — panelled, carved around the edges, with a star at its centre — and it covers a long open space of living, dining and kitchen on hardwood floors. The kitchen has an island, an induction hob, oven and extractor, and a built-in fridge-freezer and dishwasher. Off the living room, a 21 m² balcony looks over the communal pool and sun deck.

There are three bedrooms, each with built-in wardrobes and its own en-suite, and a separate guest bathroom on the main level. Two of the bedrooms open onto a private patio that faces the church. Above all of it is a 96 m² mezzanine with built-in storage and no fixed job: a fourth bedroom, a second sitting room, a study, a gym, somewhere for children to make a mess out of sight. In total the apartment is 285 m², counting the mezzanine and the balcony.

The practical side is better than the age of the building suggests. The energy certificate is class B, valid to 2036. Mitsubishi multi-split air conditioning heats and cools the living room and the bedrooms; hot water comes from a heat pump with a 300-litre tank; the windows are timber-framed and double-glazed, with interior wooden shutters. There is one covered, private parking space, and the pool is shared with only five other apartments. The flat is let unfurnished, with an optional furniture package — three schemes, put together by interior designers for this building — or you can bring your own.

Why Alcantarilha

Alcantarilha is a small Algarve village in the municipality of Silves, a few minutes inland from Armação de Pêra. It still works as a village: cafés, shops and restaurants are a short walk, the supermarket is about 300 m away and the local school about 200 m. The beach is around 4 km. The A22 is about 1.6 km from the door, which puts Albufeira, Lagoa and Portimão close; Nobel International School in Lagoa is about 13 km, and Faro airport about 49 km.

Who it suits

A family that wants space and a school within walking distance. A couple who work from home and want the mezzanine as an office that is properly separate from the living room. Anyone who would rather live in a real Portuguese village than a resort, but still wants a pool, air conditioning and a parking space. It is a long-term let, not a holiday rental.

Type	Apartment · first floor · T3+1
Total area	285 m² incl. 96 m² mezzanine and 21 m² balcony
Bedrooms	3 · all en-suite · built-in wardrobes
Bathrooms	4 · three en-suite + guest
Outside	Balcony over the pool · private patio facing the church
Building	Early-1900s manor · Municipal Interest · fully restored
Shared	Pool and sun deck · six homes
Systems	Mitsubishi A/C · heat-pump hot water · double glazing
Parking	1 covered, private space
Furnishing	Unfurnished · optional furniture package
Energy rating	Class B (EPC) · valid to 2036
Location	Church square · Alcantarilha, Silves
Rent	€3,400 per month · long-term