Forty metres above the Atlantic, where clifftop scrubland meets the surf breaks that made Ericeira famous, Luís Pedra Silva of Pedra Silva Arquitectos took a former farmhouse and rehabilitation centre and transformed it into Aethos Ericeira, completed in 2022. The project's central move is a productive conversation between what was kept and what was added: restored traditional masonry in pale render and terracotta tile sits alongside contemporary extensions clad in vertical timber slats, with protruding metallic window boxes giving the facade a rhythm that feels neither nostalgic nor incongruous. Landscape design by Topiaris ties the 3,745 m² site to the coastal terrain, the pool terrace stepping down in limestone toward views that frame nothing but ocean and sky. Barcelona-based Astet Studio handled the interiors across 50 rooms and suites, and the approach is warm without straining for effect. Bedrooms are finished in wide-plank pale oak, the slatted timber headboards echoing the exterior cladding, boucle armchairs and low-slung platform beds keeping the mood close to domestic ease. The double-height lobby is the project's most architecturally ambitious interior: three arched openings frame a long boardwalk dissolving into the clifftop horizon, the plaster walls washed in a tone that shifts between sand and rose depending on the hour. In the restaurant, a textured dark tile wall provides counterpoint to the whitewashed coffered ceiling and warm oak joinery, pendant lights in blackened steel and brass holding the space at an intimate pitch.

1hr drive from Lisbon