House Of Tuesdays / Manuel Tojal Architects

Architects: Manuel Tojal Architects
Area: 130 m²
Year: 2025
Photography: Francisco Nogueira
Lead Architect: Manuel Cachão Tojal
Architects Team: Liliana Nóbrega, Francisca Patuleia Figueiras
Contractor: Francisco Nóbrega Construções
City: Ponta do Sol
Country: Portugal

House of Tuesdays by Manuel Tojal Architects is a refined restoration of a 19th-century Madeiran residence in Ponta do Sol, Portugal. Once in ruins, the family-owned home was revived with a design that balances preservation with contemporary comfort. The 130-square-meter structure retains its historical essence while integrating modern elements that enhance livability and connection to the landscape. Local basalt, timber, and limewash were used to emphasize the island’s material heritage, while a terrace and pool reinterpret the dwelling’s dialogue with the sea. The project demonstrates how architecture can honor memory and material continuity, transforming a decaying structure into a quietly elegant home rooted in its surroundings.

House of tuesdays / manuel tojal architects

Manuel Tojal Architects approached the renovation with a sense of empathy and restraint, recognizing the emotional significance of a house that had belonged to the same family for fifty years. When the property was finally vacated by its tenants, the team was met with a structure that had survived in near-original condition despite decades of neglect. Its location within Ponta do Sol’s lush banana plantations and its panoramic views of the Atlantic shaped the guiding principles of the intervention. Rather than impose new formality, the architects sought to preserve the informal spirit of a traditional Madeiran dwelling.

The design strategy focused on maintaining the building’s authentic layout while introducing subtle adjustments that improve daily life. The addition of a first-floor bathroom and the transformation of the old wine cellar into a living room established a clear social core, connecting the living, dining, and kitchen areas along the façade. This reconfiguration fostered a sense of spatial flow without disturbing the home’s original proportions, allowing old and new functions to coexist naturally.

Material choices were integral to reinforcing the project’s connection to place. Basalt, sourced locally, defines the ground floor, wet areas, and pool, grounding the structure in Madeira’s volcanic geology. The upper floor features new wooden flooring, while the reconstructed doors and windows follow original profiles. The discovery of a pastel green beam within the chimney inspired the chromatic identity of the new carpentry, establishing a dialogue between historic fragments and renewed craftsmanship.

Externally, the intervention builds upon the house’s relationship with its agricultural landscape. The original stone benches were reinterpreted as steps leading to a new terrace, which doubles as an outdoor living space. From this elevated platform, a pool occupies the footprint of the former water tank, aligned precisely with the façade and key openings. Its reflective surface extends visually toward the sea, erasing the boundary between architecture and the surrounding environment.

The treatment of the façade and roof further enhances this sense of continuity. A limewashed exterior finish softens the building’s silhouette, allowing it to blend naturally into its context. The preservation of the original roof tiles maintains the familiar texture and rhythm of the Madeiran vernacular, while the weathering of materials celebrates time’s imprint rather than concealing it beneath new finishes.

Each intervention is deliberate and minimal, reflecting the architects’ belief that renewal can emerge from what already exists. The project avoids decorative excess, instead highlighting craftsmanship, proportion, and the subtleties of light. Through its sensitive restraint, House of Tuesdays achieves a balance between nostalgia and modernity, capturing the quiet dignity of a lived-in home.

Manuel Tojal Architects have crafted more than a restoration; they have composed an architectural reflection on memory and permanence. The House of Tuesdays stands as a dialogue between material authenticity and human continuity, where architecture serves as both witness and custodian of time. Rooted in its landscape yet open to reinterpretation, the project reaffirms that true renovation lies in understanding the soul of what already endures.