Gostamos de Gosto

Architectural salvage and art...

We wrote before about our search for old items (sinks, clawfoot tubs, doors, etc) to put in our new house. We had tried Googling the Portuguese equivalent of “junkyard” and “architectural salvage”, but nada. Then our friends Lucille and Eric purchased a magnificent blue door at a place that is by no means a junkyard; but rather an upscale, funky, fun place to find things you never knew you needed.

Denise talking to Marten, whose lovely partner Carlijn is in the background.

A Lovely Dutch Couple

We drove about 50 minutes west to Fonte de Boliqeime, a small village (5,000 residents) in the municipality of Loulé, 20km west of Faro. Gosto (the name of the store which translates to “I like”) is just a short drive off the toll road. [BTW: for those working on your Portuguese, the title of this post translates to We Like Gosto. Gostamos is the “we” conjugation of the verb gostar…to like. It is one of several words in Portuguese that for some inexplicable reason you put “de” after. Now back to our story…] We arrived a few minutes before 10:00 however the door was open. We walked in and met Marten.

Easy to spot and lots of free parking.

Marten has enjoyed travel throughout his life but settled in Portugal 27 years ago. He recalled the moment he decided to leave the Netherlands. He was 35 and driving to work. He realized that he was spending far too much of his life commuting … and so that day he quit. The next day, instead of driving 2 hours to work he began a 3-day journey to Portugal. His first business was renting bikes in front of a hotel … over time his inventory grew to 200 bikes and his business included hosting cycling vacations. Later he bought a tile factory.

Marten always enjoyed travel and in fact met his partner Carlijn during a trip to Africa. Carlijn, also Dutch, had lived in Africa many years leading safari holidays. She loved Africa and tried to convince Marten to move with her. But Marten was still drawn to Portugal so they returned to this small town in Algarve and opened Gosto. Their worldly travels provided them contacts in Asia, Africa, and Europe to buy new and old pieces. While they love finding unique pieces their business has become more challenging in the last two years. Not only has their travel been curtailed, but the cost of a shipping container is now ten times what it was just two years ago.

Unfortunately, the school desks were already sold.

Gosto

To truly appreciate Gosto you need to spend time. Time wondering about…asking questions…pondering how you might use the item in your home. Many are obvious, like the vintage lamps that have been rewired. A few seemed obvious to me but caused Denise to cock her head to one side, e.g. I spotted the fuselage of a plane which I thought would make one heck of a headboard. Still others you immediately love causing you to wonder how could I use that?

Tulip table also available in white.

Some items are brand new like the Eero Saarinen-inspired tulip table that Marten sources from a friend in Morroco. Some have been repurposed, for example, the fuselage had lights installed along the back which bathe the wall with light. Others just need a bit of spit and polish to become that one incredible statement piece that tells the world you didn’t just shop at Crate & Barrel.

Now to be entirely transparent…this is not a place where you will find a 25€ old window that you can turn into a wonderful coffee table. And we didn’t find many items from Portugal. Items come instead from India, Scandinavia, Africa, etc. Marten agreed, that the custom here was just to throw it in the skip. (In fact, he made an interesting observation … saying that as a culture moves out of poverty the tendency is to want new. That it is only after many years of prosperity that people long for the vintage, the antique, etc…I think he is right!)

A new experience…chickens, and rabbits for sale at the Castro Marim flea market.

Hunting for Bargains

To find a bargain, instead, you must attend your local flea market. Nearly every town has one. In Cascais, there was the Wednesday flea market by the Mercado that was filled with knockoff and second-hand clothes, hardware store items, etc., and one on Sundays that was primarily old stuff … a train lamp that needed to be rewired, mismatched sets of crystal, silver tea sets, a chest of drawers, etc. We also happened upon one in Vila Real de Santo Antonio last summer when we were here for a visit.

I wondered if the barbeque guy bought his chickens from the guy above. These are the things a vegetarian doesn’t like to think about!

Last Saturday, the flea market in Castro Marim was held for the first time since Covid. Unfortunately, we arrived at 13:00 as the skies were darkening, signaling rain was on its way, and most vendors were packing up. We did see a few “antique” vendors, as well as food and clothing vendors. We also spotted a sizable crowd eating freshly barbequed piri-piri chicken. I suspect Denise will be joining that crowd next month.

Till then, enjoy more photos from Gosto below:

Everyone needs a pink ceramic bulldog…

Just wire that metal thing in the back and hang it over your kitchen island…

We loved these lights!