For the last couple of weeks we have been enjoying visiting old houses from the Portuguese era. Some are crumbling, some restored and some have totally fallen down!
In some they have been left as if still in a bygone era, ballrooms with chandeliers and old mirrors, dusty or waxed furniture, and the ageing owners if still alive living in one or two rooms.
Others have been renovated by new owners, or in the one we visited yesterday in Velsao, the great grandson of C R de Sousa who was a trader in Zanzibar has returned from Canada to turn Maison Rodesa into a charming residence.
Here the stencilled walls have been gently restored by the great grandson of the original decorator, but sadly all the old furniture was stolen while the owner was away in Brazil.
Just down the road is a crumbling derelict house which belonged to the same family, but with no known descendants to save it.
