- 12 minutes ago
AD is welcomed by Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent to tour their lovingly restored farm in Portugal. When the interior design power couple bought this 400-year-old farm, it was lying in ruin, but through a labor of love, they turned it into their dream multigenerational family home, connecting them to Jeremiah’s Portuguese roots. Blending rustic design with modern interiors, the farm is now a European paradise complete with goats, sheep, and peacocks.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Jer, when is the goat leaving the kitchen?
00:03Hey, A.D.
00:04Hey, A.D.
00:05Welcome to Portugal.
00:06Things look a little bit different around here.
00:09Same homos, different home.
00:20I'm really excellent with landscaping,
00:22and I have this concept that there should be rows
00:24and rows and rows of lavender.
00:25Yeah, you certainly didn't fight me on it.
00:27No. For like six months.
00:28No, I didn't. He didn't have to hear.
00:30But lavender brings bees and all the things.
00:32I was wrong.
00:33If the bees go, so do we folks.
00:36I won't get choked up about the inside of this house,
00:39but I do get choked up when I talk about the outside
00:41because when we bought this farm, it was a ruin,
00:45and everything was really sick and had not been taken care of.
00:49And we had a friend come back who actually showed us the house,
00:52and he said to us, you brought her back to life.
00:54Our family planted a lot of this lavender.
00:56Everything in this space reminds me of everything that we've put into it.
01:01And for whatever reason, everything that we've done,
01:05everything that we try to achieve for our family,
01:07this farm feels like the best representation of that success.
01:11That's Nuno, and that's Marta.
01:14Hi, guys.
01:16And without them, there would be no farm.
01:19Throughout the property, there's these old wells that really,
01:22when you take a wood cork out, they actually water the entire field.
01:25This one was not being used, and so we created our dream pool.
01:30And this was my design too, right?
01:32Yeah.
01:32Yeah.
01:33I'm really awesome with outside stuff.
01:35Yeah.
01:35If you guys ever need help, just by all means, call me.
01:38He's great.
01:38He definitely didn't fight me about the pattern.
01:40I have it all right here.
01:40Didn't fight me about the material.
01:41Just have the vision.
01:42But do you know what he does do really well?
01:44Enjoy it when it's done.
01:47Oh, there goes the sheep.
01:48Oh, man.
01:50Look at, they froze when I yelled at them.
01:51Hi, guys.
01:52I didn't realize that sheepish came from sheep.
01:56Because they are very nervous about everything.
02:00There's a baby.
02:01You see the baby?
02:04This is the first home that we renovated.
02:07We lovingly call it the Lavender House.
02:10It's a little two-bedroom house.
02:11It is the most exquisite view as you wake up to the sunrise right over this ridge.
02:15And if you look past this way, I built a house from my mother.
02:19And she lives here full-time now with her husband.
02:22What's really beautiful about this home is at any given time,
02:25there's always three generations here.
02:26I am Portuguese.
02:28My parents are Portuguese.
02:30My mom always talks about stories of coming back here and living here someday.
02:34Living here, you feel like intrinsically connected to a vibration,
02:38like something much deeper, something older.
02:40Every day you wake up here and your only job here is to nurture the land.
02:44And there's so much beauty to that.
02:45There's so much purpose in that.
02:47It feeds your soul in such a unique and special way.
02:49You know, we were walking with our daughter the other day,
02:52and she was talking about how underneath these arches is where she wants to get married someday,
02:56which could bring me to tears.
02:58I think people would think that it's the homes that have like this feeling or this spirit to them,
03:03but it's really the land.
03:05I love this place.
03:14So when we bought this house, this room was terrifying.
03:19It was stone floors.
03:20There were troughs everywhere.
03:22It was a full barn.
03:24All of these rooms were so gross.
03:27Normally in this architecture, the animals lived downstairs and the people lived upstairs.
03:31So all of these rooms on the first floor you're seeing were for the animals basically.
03:36So when we decided to do this renovation,
03:38this space was really about creating a really warm, intimate TV space.
03:41I'll say it.
03:42Sometimes after chasing wild peacocks that are in heat, you want to watch Housewives.
03:49One thing that's important to note is that all of these doors were original.
03:53So in Portugal, when they remove like centuries of paint off of wood, they burn it.
03:59And so this person with like a torch was burning the paint off and then hand scraping everything.
04:04So to see the wood underneath and the original iron hardware is so cool.
04:09I think the house definitely feels, for me, visually different than anything we've done.
04:14Show them your fat bird.
04:16Yeah.
04:17This is a big deal, guys.
04:18It's fine.
04:18So we were at the Paris flea market a couple weeks ago, and we came around the corner and I
04:25saw this.
04:26And if there was ever a piece of furniture that I felt was me, it would be this beautifully sculpted
04:33bird.
04:37What's interesting about this kitchen is really the transformation that it went through.
04:40Originally, this was where they would milk the livestock.
04:43There was a drain in the center.
04:44It smelled like it had had quite a few experiences, but this space is so special.
04:49It's really, I think, the heartbeat of this house.
04:52The chairs are Robert Mallett Stevens from 1930 in like the original chipping paint.
04:58We love that.
04:58I love that I'm like the heartbeat.
05:00I know.
05:00And I'm like, guess what we found at auctions everywhere.
05:04You make everything here.
05:05Yeah, it's fun.
05:06I bake all the time for the kids.
05:07These doors are usually open.
05:08You can hear them splashing outside in the pool.
05:10But when you come here, the voice turned completely down and it really becomes about the art of living.
05:15What's exciting is like when the flowers pop up that weren't there the day before.
05:20Or you hear like the peacocks screaming at each other because it's mating season.
05:24And I find that like our whole family, not just the two of us, but the children as well,
05:28our body clocks start to shift a little bit.
05:30And we start waking up kind of when we want to and we go to bed.
05:34Well, you do for sure.
05:35Yeah, I definitely do.
05:36Yeah.
05:36Also, the stone that you see behind.
05:39Well, everywhere.
05:40Yeah.
05:40We only use local.
05:41I love that we're talking about how much we love local materials as we stand in front of a French
05:46oven.
05:47Well, you can't have it all.
05:48Okay.
05:48Some things the French do really beautifully.
05:51And the ovens.
05:53I mean, they do a lot beautifully for the record.
05:56Don't come for me.
06:04So everything changes when you come up the stairs in these homes.
06:07And this is really common here.
06:08Obviously, you have the height of the ceiling, like the plaster work, which was restored.
06:12There were people with paintbrushes, like making sure that they didn't change the original finish,
06:17which you can still see.
06:19The tapestry we inherited.
06:20This was originally here.
06:21This space is really like where we come together at night, where the kids read a book,
06:25where we play games on the floor.
06:26And it kind of acts as like this connective space between all the bedrooms.
06:30Speaking of children, let me show you our kids' spaces.
06:34You might want to zoom in on this.
06:37We keep hostages.
06:42If anyone knows.
06:43I swear to God, she's happy.
06:45All right, come into Poppy's room.
06:57The only thing that gets him going is vacuuming bugs on the ceiling.
07:02Interestingly enough, our daughter had a really clear perspective on what she wanted to do.
07:06She kept the original floors.
07:08She wanted to keep all the original furniture.
07:10This bed was here.
07:11This armoire was here, which we painted.
07:13We obviously added a new bathroom, but this was all her.
07:16She had a color she wanted.
07:20The funny thing about our daughter is she actually thinks that we have no taste.
07:24I think it's good.
07:28If she had her way, she'd literally live like Marie Antoinette.
07:31She thinks that we don't understand what we're doing.
07:33Yeah, she thinks we have terrible taste, that everything we pick out is really ugly.
07:37She likes crusty French Louis XVI style.
07:41That's her jam.
07:42Good chance she's going to end up like Joan Rivers.
07:43I'm not really sure.
07:44I hope so.
07:49And then over here is Oscar Michael Brent Berkus' room.
07:54What?
07:55And a small child.
07:58What are you doing?
07:59Dude.
08:00Come here.
08:00Okay, so Oscar, tell me if I give a good description of your room for you, okay?
08:04Oscar wanted it to feel like he was living in the clouds.
08:09And so we have wallpaper that he approved on the walls, so he feels like he's in the clouds.
08:15He's got all of his very important installations, Legos everywhere.
08:21And he collects pottery.
08:22He like looks around and tries to find the pieces that went with each other.
08:26So this is on his windowsill, but he really gets excited.
08:30He definitely has inherited that maximalist lifestyle.
08:33Let's just put it that way.
08:34Their grandparents who live here on the farm had a treasure hunt for the kids
08:38with clues hidden all over the farm a few days ago.
08:41And these are all the treasures that they won.
08:45I actually shouldn't even be touching this because he puts this in very-
08:48I also want to say for the record, I just got in trouble because this has been edited.
08:51And he was not happy about it being edited.
08:53Oh yeah, where are all of it?
08:54It's gold coins.
08:55There's gold coins.
08:56There's fidgets.
08:57There's everything.
08:58It's objects everywhere.
09:00Always an installation as we call it.
09:02Did you get him this?
09:02I sure did.
09:04That, ladies and gentlemen, was a lava lamp.
09:06And I had three.
09:08I got them all from Hot Topic and I'm not ashamed to say it.
09:11Wow, you've been a long way from Hot Topic, babe.
09:14I think if I had to kind of put together a visual representation of like
09:20our taste versus our sun, it would be this beautiful tree painting and then this lego.
09:26Oh, that's where the coins are.
09:28Well, he's holding some coins.
09:30Can you guys see? He's holding chocolate coins.
09:33Oscar doesn't actually like the chocolate, but he likes the gold.
09:37Go figure.
09:45So this used to be the formal dining room.
09:48Yep. So in these homes, you see the ledge that goes around the perimeter.
09:52This is all the original millwork, all the original molding, but the dishes,
09:56the good dishes would have been leaning against this room all the way around.
10:00Maybe someday we'll like start a collection of that.
10:02It's like potterier or something.
10:03More stuff.
10:04Yeah.
10:04Perfect.
10:04Yeah.
10:05I just thought of something else we can look for.
10:06Great.
10:07Why don't you and Oscar just start collecting some rare dishes?
10:10I just need some gold coins.
10:11What I love in this room, again, is the contrast of eras and design styles.
10:16And it works.
10:17It's very comfortable.
10:18And I feel like visually represents us.
10:20And one thing that I really do have to show you guys.
10:23So this was actually the family that built this farm 400 years ago.
10:28Obviously, we kept that, because why would you not?
10:31We are in truly the center of nowhere, which is what we love about it.
10:34But with that comes a lot of complexities around materials.
10:37I don't know how many calls we had where I was trying to explain a scallop.
10:41How do you say scallop in Portuguese?
10:43Somebody knows.
10:44What?
10:44Escadura.
10:45Escadura?
10:46There's a lot of this.
10:47Muito obrigado.
10:53It's also so cool, because the two windows, which are arched, are on the same axis.
10:58So you see Spain in that direction, and then you just see land on that direction.
11:03That rent-a-car is not usually here.
11:05Did you see that?
11:06Yeah.
11:06Well, I get it.
11:08Bathroom?
11:08Sure.
11:09Okay.
11:12There used to be a third bedroom, which we absorbed to create a full primary bathroom,
11:18as well as, like, a small dressing room. This is a stone tub. It's a perfect spot for it.
11:25These are the local marble. Put it out of the scallop detail.
11:29Escadura?
11:30Scusi.
11:31I know you think that that's, like, my arousal palette.
11:33I say that's Nate's arousal palette.
11:34It's not.
11:35Isn't it, though? Look closely.
11:43Originally in this house, this was where you made all of the meat, and that's not a metaphor.
11:48Where they made the sausage, actually.
11:50Yes, that's now the sausage.
11:52Never mind.
11:52Oh my god.
11:53What's really beautiful about this room is the scale of the fireplace.
11:57It's what we love the most.
11:58You can see, actually, look, this is the size of the fireplace.
12:01The second this home was finished, we've had, I don't even know how many dinner parties in here.
12:06They're always very late, very rowdy, and very over-served, which is what this house is supposed
12:11to be about, coming together. A lot of the pieces in here are things that we inherited
12:15when we actually purchased the house.
12:16So I do want to show you guys something I think is really cool.
12:19So a lot of the pots that you see around the farm were original to the farm, and this one,
12:24we have no idea how old it is, but it was common for the artist to sign the pot.
12:29So this one says, Jose Pereira, and that's who made this, which is sort of amazing.
12:34This is wood. Shall we go outside?
12:43I just want to say for the record, because I'm obviously obsessed with landscaping now,
12:48this tree is not dead. It's a walnut tree, and it always comes back late.
12:52So she's on her way, she's coming, but she takes her time.
12:56It looks dead.
12:56It's not dead. It's budding. Now you're just being mean. He didn't mean it.
13:05Perfect shot. I believe that was peacock for, fuck you.
13:10So this pool, we kind of lovingly refer to as the kid's pool. They swim in it almost every day.
13:17They're always splashing in it. I could be cooking in the kitchen, and I look out,
13:20and they're always in the pool. We have several of these on the farm, and these were the reservoirs
13:25that the channels all connect to. And that's what we actually spent the first two years
13:30restoring, is all the water channels that kind of move throughout the land. It's almost like veins,
13:34and you always hear that kind of beautiful sound of water.
13:40Sorry, babe. This is making me crazy.
13:44What can I say? Every family's got one.
13:50So this path, for the record, we did not name it. It's called Lover's Lane, but we did just
13:56completely restore it. And this is all actually a scent garden. So everything will bloom and smell
14:01really beautiful. This is what we walked into, obviously not in this condition. And this iron
14:07structure is one of four on the farm. Yeah. It's just like this, this is like the real history of
14:13this
14:14place. I cannot describe to you, and I'm not sure a video or photo will ever really do it justice,
14:18what it feels like to live somewhere where you always hear the running water,
14:22and you always hear birds. It's truly super magical. Right, Chico?
14:33Hi, Dad. What are you doing?
14:35Hi, Pops. We are talking to some friends. We'll be back in like five minutes.
14:39So the one rule around this house is that if you leave, you just have to take a walkie-talkie
14:44with
14:44you so we can find you. These used to be statues, but they were fake. So they're gone. The little
14:52gardener guy, remember? How could I forget? He had like a basket and a sun hat. He was like this.
15:00So he was gay.
15:03So this we did not know existed until we started cleaning up and cutting back the plants and
15:09maintaining it. But look at this beautiful altar. This is like its own personal church.
15:14This is Saint Antonio, who's all over the farm. Really beautiful about this is that the water comes
15:22in. It comes up to like mid-calf and you sit down with your feet in the water. The water's
15:29a little
15:29dark for me. I like a little chlorine thing moving around. That's my worst nightmare. We have owned this
15:35home for six years. We have no idea still where the water comes from. What did you find now?
15:43That's my weed netting. Don't eat that. She go. No, that's yucky. That's not for you. That's gross.
15:49That's yucky. You can't do that. That's yucky. You can't eat that. Where are goat wrangling hostages?
15:54Unbelievable. America's decorator.
16:04All right, A.D., I can't thank you enough for coming to check out our home. Thank you so much
16:08for
16:08spending some time with us and our zoo. Now we have to go wrangle children, goats, sheep, and wild
16:15peacock. So we'll see you later. What do you think he's doing? Being a goat. Bye.
16:23Chico, you're a really good boy. I really love him. No. As a personal challenge for Jeremiah and
16:31spiders, I want to know what would I have to give you to stick your hand in this old pot?
16:37Do you want to know something really beautiful? Come on, Jerry. This is actually jasmine
16:40that's climbing all the way across, so it's going to smell so beautiful at night, especially when I'm here
16:46single. A little closer together. Hmm, too gay. We're too gay? Not me. Look how uncomfortable I
16:55am. Oh yeah, you really are. Will you stick your hand in the spider pot? I like girls. That's my,
17:00like, girl's voice. Yeah, that's really effective. All the women just swooned. Yeah, I know.
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