Pensão Montanha
property details
for a Hub House co-operative coliving project

Environment ✧ coastal and great dunes, undulating semi-agricultural, lots of pines; 45mins bike to beach/15mins drive

Services ✧ adequate, supermarket 25mins walk, town 30mins bus/20mins drive

Access ✧ Lisbon direct bus 2h40; station 20mins walk, Coimbra 1h, Porto 2h30; mainline station 30mins drive + 2h Lisbon

Area ✧ lower price was not accepted by another buyer
✦ fairly significant work to be usable
✦ roof repairs required, ideally needs replacing, either needs significant 4-storey scaffolding
✦ needs new floors but could be ply atop existing
✦ some partions need rebuilding (collapsed lathe)
✦ all windows need replacing
✦ nature score is low as is a lightly urban setting, with beach dunes 11km/45mins bike/15mins drive, reached using quiet flat tracks along the river but these are not what I'd call a notable draw; some passable strolls amongst the fields/woods
✦ the village has an indoor municipal market and a few basic cafes, shops plus a huge buffet venue close; the local town Leiria is pretty for a better outing, and close by car/bus, or even bike 1h along the river
✦ 30mins drive to Nazaré (50mins by bus), 1h to Peniche, 1h Coimbra; small natural park with hills 30mins
✦ pretty good all round access to adequate variety, at the cost of an unremarkable but decent location
✦ price reduced second time; latest photos show degradation, facades need cosmetic repairs; work to convert much of the building would be nominal; roofing is in ok condition but appears a cheap corrugated material, fine for another decade but not beyond
✦ 650m2 in main building, plus 150m2 outbuilding, possibly a further 100m2 of sheds too for 22m of lane frontage behind the main building and off the street, to be partly demolished for courtyard as otherwise no outdoor space; retaining some for a split-level patio/courtyard and roof terrace, with space for plenty of trees and plants
✦ 14 beds; potentially expandable with 3–5 new build micro-studios (20m2) reducing courtyard size but still a decent size
✦ so whilst it has no garden, there'd be a good-sized off-street patio, or possibly a roof terrace above additional common spaces
✦ it is very close to an airforce base (slated for conversion to a low-cost airport), it's also an uninteresting village, although towns are okay as there's busses
✦ climate actually has very few clear sunny days, versus the hills (Coimbra) it is usually partly overcast/hazy, which means it's not quite as hot as Lisbon, but is a bit warmer and rains a bit less than the hills
✦ station should in future have a direct Lisbon and Coimbra connection once electrified, then access is significantly improved
✦ direct morning bus to Lisbon
✦ the road it's on is one-way, and is local-only as there's a bypass around the village, however it is noisy at the front during rush hours, quiet at the back
✦ neighbouring land is for sale at around 300k with a house, and the warehouse/shops to the side are unused and likely to fall down, but both would be an expensive expansion, better to invest into new locations