Some places hold on to their stories.
You can see it in the worn workbenches and the tools left exactly where someone put them years ago.
Senhor Fernando's carpentry workshop in Santiago do Cacém is one of those places.
Learning from Senhor Fernando
For about a year now, I've been learning carpentry alongside Senhor Fernando, a local carpenter who generously let me spend whole days in his workshop.
I asked endless questions. He answered every one, usually with a story attached.
Slowly, I started learning a craft that is disappearing.
A Workshop Full of Life
When Senhor Fernando retired and closed his business, the workshop went quiet.
But it wasn't always like that.
“This place was once full of life. Sr. Fernando likes to tell me how he had 13 people working here and often stored over 400 doors of many types of wood and sizes on the mezzanine. It's bittersweet that what once was a booming business that provided for many families wouldn't be viable nowadays, but I'm hoping to bring new life back into the space.”
Cleaning Out Decades of Work
Workshops like this were once at the heart of small towns across the Alentejo. They made the doors, windows, furniture and beams of the houses people still live in today.
Most of them have closed. Very few have found a new purpose.
Over the past few months, I've been cleaning the workshop out, sorting through decades of tools and wood, and getting it ready for its next chapter.
It's slow work, and almost everything has a story.
I found pieces and tools I had no idea what to do with. Senhor Fernando knew exactly what each one was for, and why it was made.
I also found drawings made by the workers. Senhor Fernando remembered one of them in particular, a carpenter with a special talent for drawing.
And, tucked away, a few posters of naked ladies, a classic in any workshop of that era. I've left them where they belong, hidden inside a closet. It seemed only fair to respect the ladies' privacy.
What Comes Next
First, the workshop will be used for more ambitious carpentry and restoration projects for the Manas houses: furniture, doors, windows and all the small repairs that old houses need.
But we'd love it to become something bigger: a shared workshop where other people can come and make things.
We're exploring a few ideas:
- Rent-a-bench: a place to work on your own project for a few days or weeks.
- A small maker space: shared tools and a community of people who like to build and repair.
- Maker residencies: stay for a few weeks or months, combining time in the workshop with accommodation at Manas. Ideal for woodworkers, restorers and makers. Read more about our residencies.
It's still early days, and nothing is fixed yet.
Tell Us What You'd Make
If you're a woodworker, a restorer, a furniture maker, or simply someone who has always wanted to build something with their hands, we'd love to hear from you.
Would you come and work on a project here? How long would you stay? What would you need?
Every answer helps us shape what this becomes.