In short, it's a house sandwiched between four giant stones that was meant to be a holiday countryside home, but ended up turning into something else.

Have you ever watched Flintstones? If so, you won't want to miss a guided tour of the Flintstones house, located in Fafe, Portugal. This house will let your imagination soar.

Casa do Penedo is also known as the stone house and it is easy to find as long as you get there, as it is probably the only house in the world with this shape that was built between four giant stones.

Peace and romance go hand in hand when visiting this hidden gem. From the architecture to the beautiful surroundings, it's amazing how someone could have designed and built something like this. It looks like you're going to visit a prehistoric house until you realise it's not that old.

This little house seems to have come out of a series from the 60s (the Flintstones that we all know) which has made it an interesting destination and almost a museum, with visitors every year looking to find this gem that arouses the curiosity of the whole world due to the originality of the spot.

Family home

However, this gem is actually a private property that belongs to the Rodrigues family and the name of its current owner is Vítor Rodrigues. His parents began building the house in the spring of 1972, making a family dream come true. Two years later, this house would be built and the Rodrigues family would have a spot to enjoy the holidays, as they wished.

The goal was to have a place to spend holidays where the family could be together without the interference of the technologies of the time. “The house was built to have no technology, no television and no phone. My family spent Christmases, Easters and weekends there. Those who built the house were born in the 30's and 40's and at that time there wasn't much technology and they wanted to recreate the good old days”, said Vítor Rodrigues, the builder's son, to The Portugal News.

Gaining notoriety

However, years later, the house became an icon. Several blogs, newspapers and television programmes from around the world have already recognised this Portuguese house as the weirdest building ever. Furthermore, locals are already used to the many tourists who visit the place.

Indeed, from the outside, it's all stone, except for the crooked windows, door and roof, but inside, it's no less charming. There are furniture, stairs and handrails made of stone, giving it a superb rustic style.

Another interesting fact is that despite the existence of a wind farm very close, the house is still not connected to mains electricity and is totally surrounded by nature, which makes it a place to enjoy the sound of the wind and the colours of nature. Actually, based on this idea, in 2018 Samsung Portugal produced an ad to promote the Galaxy Note 9 filmed outside the house.

Although nowadays this place is wonderful for a detox away from the city, the owner doesn't live there anymore, not even for holidays as this private house is almost like a museum where people go, visit and take pictures. “We concluded that we couldn't stay at the home for the holidays anymore because it was getting more visibility and there was a very large flow of visitors”, he added.

Concrete sofa

The house has almost all the necessary comforts, like a 350-kilo sofa in concrete and eucalyptus wood and a staircase that connects to the first floor where the sleeping area used to be. Outdoors, this house has a beautiful open-air swimming pool (also made of stone) which is the icing on the cake.

Despite the beauty of this gem, this house has already suffered crimes of vandalism compromising its conservation due to its isolated location (the next village is 2km away). For this reason, all windows are bulletproof and the door was reinforced with steel to protect the house from people with criminal intentions.

Casa do Penedo is located between Celorico de Basto and Fafe, more specifically in the parish of Moreira do Rei, in the municipality of Fafe, in Northern Portugal. If you are planning to visit this gem, be aware that it is private property and you should check Google maps to see if they are open first.

Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins