Quinta da Marinha, one of the luxury gated communities on the fabled Portuguese Riviera, is designed for lovers of the great outdoors.

With its golf courses and beautiful beaches, the oceanfront community in the coastal resort town of Cascais, which is 30 minutes west of Lisbon, offers a host of amenities for those who seek an active, leisurely lifestyle and have the means to pay for exclusivity.

“Here, you can practice sports from surfing to golf or tennis,” says Eurico Ferreira da Silva, partner and sales manager, Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty. “And you get a great lifestyle, [being] surrounded by nature and the ocean.”

Modern Luxury Estates

Quinta da Marinha, defined by N 247 and Estrada do Guincho on the north, Estrada Nova on the east, Rua da Bicuda on the south, and Rua dos Eucaliptos on the west, is known for its luxurious custom estates that are modern in style.

Top-of-the-line estates that have amenities such as a private tennis court, a spa, and several swimming pools can soar to US$30 million, according to Ferreira da Silva, who adds that prices are quoted in U.S. dollars for the international market.

The average price, he adds, is US$4.5 million, and properties typically are a half acre. “Some houses have great ocean views while others enjoy mountain views,” he says. Condos, loaded with accoutrements such as gyms, tennis courts, golf courses, beaches, jogging circuits, and horseback riding trails, typically sell for US$1 million to US$6.5 million, he says. “The oldest were built about two decades ago,” he says, adding that there are more under construction. “In the north area of Quinta da Marinha, the condos are in a classic or traditional style; in the south, they are modern.”

What Makes It Unique

Sports and outdoor activities are the neighborhood’s main attractions.

The 18-hole Quinta da Marinha Golf Course, which offers views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Sintra Mountains, was designed by Robert Trent Jones.

Oitavos Dunes, an 18-hole course designed by Arthur Hills, is ranked No. 55 in the world and No. 1 in Portugal on Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in the World.

The town of Cascais also plays host to a number of international athletic events. They include America’s Cup World Series, the annual premier sailing competition; the Estoril Open tennis tournament; and the Longines Global Champions Tour, an annual horse show jumping series.

Guincho Beach, a popular spot for surfing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing, is, according to Ferreira da Silva, one of the area’s most beautiful.

Ferreira da Silva notes that there are a number of excellent dining establishments in the neighborhood that serve seafood, notably the Michelin-starred Fortaleza do Guincho, which opened in 1998; Yakuza Cascais, which offers sushi; O Faroleiro, set in a park; and Monte Mar, sited on the waterfront. “They all make food with fresh ingredients from the area,” he says. The commercial district, which is under construction, will include a variety of high-end shops and services, but in the meantime, residents go to the center of Cascais, which is about two kilometers away, for luxury brands such as Givenchy and Dior.

The neighborhood has five luxury hotels—Hotel Quinta da Marinha Resort, Onyria Marinha, Sheraton Cascais Resort, Martinhal Cascais, and The Oitavos.

There are also several interesting sites in Cascais that are only a 10-minute walk away. The Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, a museum designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, houses the storybook-based prints and paintings of Portuguese-born visual artist Paula Rego.

Marechal Carmona, a park with a duck pond, pine and palm trees, and rose gardens, is home to the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, a Victorian mansion that has turrets and an Arabic cloister. It is the repository for a variety of historical and artistic items ranging from 17th-century Indo-Portuguese cabinets and oriental silk tapestries to 350-year-old azulejo tilework.

Meanwhile, there are several private schools in the area. The newly opened Kairos Montessori, a Cambridge International Curriculum school for students ages 3 through 12, is within the boundaries of the neighborhood.

Residents also send their children an eight-minute drive away to St. George’s, which has been offering an English-Portuguese curriculum to students ages 10 to 14 since 1960.

Carlucci American International School of Lisbon, an 18-minute drive away, enrolls students from prekindergarten through high school. Established in 1956, it has the distinction of being the oldest American school in theIberian Peninsula and the only U.S. State Department school in Portugal. Quinta da Marinha is so beautiful and such a good investment, Ferreira da Silva says, that “there’s nothing we need to tell clients to sell them on it. The place speaks for itself.”