Lina de Lonet Delgado

This is what Casa do Troco looked like when we bought it in 2017. 

The ballroom with it's slightly elevated stage used to be a meeting point on weekends well into the 1980s. 

The Eira (threshing floor) used to be a centrepiece of the traditional rural agriculture in Portugal until the middle of the 20th century. Cereal bundles would placed on the threshing floor and Donkeys were then led around in a circle, often dragging a heavy threshing board behind them, separate the grains from the rest of the plants. Eiras were usually located in windy places which helped separate the lighter parts from the heavier grains. 

When we started making plans for the restoration of Casa do Troco we knew from the beginning that the Eira would be preserved, planning our way around this fascinating testimony to agricultural traditions of long ago.