Palheiro do Ferreiro (quinta)

It is the loveliest, the most sumptuous and the largest quinta (country estate) in Madeira. Set high among lofty mountains, it commands the most astonishing and sweeping panoramas, especially from the spot known as Balancal. Its woods, orchards, gardens, farmland, pastures, lakes and walks, its dwelling houses, stables and farm storehouses, in their vastness and in the meticulous care with which they are kept, give the place the proportions of an opulent, princely residence and of a grand and immense estate.

The Palheiro de Ferreiro quinta is the work of the 1st Count of Carvalhal, who around the beginning of the 19th century began planting many hundreds of trees there and had a small house built, which was merely a rendez-vous de chasse. He later built a country residence, the gardens, the walks, the chapel and the farm buildings, and had abundant water brought from high in the mountains and over great distances to fertilise the land of the quinta.

An old manuscript records that on 5 January 1801 the Palheiro property was visited by the governor, Dom José Manuel da Câmara, who attended the ‘laying of the thresholds of the door to the walk’. When the Empress Leopoldina (vol. II, p. 232), first wife of Pedro IV, called at Madeira in 1817, the quinta (country estate) of Palheiro was already admired by the princess and her retinue, and on that occasion João de Carvalhal gave a splendid entertainment in honour of the illustrious royal visitor.

The 2nd Count of Carvalhal received Prince Dom Luís, later King of Portugal, with great pomp and splendour at the quinta of Palheiro when he visited this island in 1858 (II-286).

Some thirty years ago (1921) this property passed into the possession of the British subject John Blandy, who in 1901 gave a brilliant entertainment there for the King and Queen of Portugal, Carlos I and Dona Maria Amélia.

Many references to the Quinta do Palheiro are to be found in various Portuguese and foreign works. We shall confine ourselves to reproducing the following description, written by an Englishman who visited it on 13 January 1826: ‘One of the best places to visit in the environs of Funchal is the Palheiro, a quinta (country estate), or rather a park, belonging to Mr João de Carvalhal, the richest fidalgo (nobleman of the lesser nobility) on the island and probably the richest subject, at least in landed property, of the King of Portugal. Today we visited the place. On high ground, a little to the east of Funchal, Mr João de Carvalhal has succeeded in acquiring a large expanse of relatively level land, which he has had cut through with roads and walks and where he has planted oaks and firs. Everything there is laid out and arranged as in an English park, which robs the spot of the grandeur and wild character that foreigners so admire in the scenery of Madeira. Nevertheless, it is understandable that a Madeiran should like to bring to the island what does not exist there. Owing to the altitude, the temperature at the Palheiro is lower than in Funchal, and I am sure that the beauty of the quinta will increase when the trees have grown larger. The house is modest both in size and in architecture, but elegant and comfortable, and the gardens surrounding it are richly clothed in flowers. Camellias are their chief ornament, the specimens being 6 to 8 feet high and bearing white or crimson flowers, which rival roses in shape and colour but lack their lovely scent.’