Before Lino: the Quinta de São Sebastião and its Tiles, Lumiar
Before the architect, there was a king's century.
At the top of the Estrada do Paço do Lumiar, where the old road leaves the Largo de São Sebastião, a long ochre house stands behind its garden walls. Its twentieth century has famous names: Raul Lino, who rebuilt it in 1920, and Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles, who redrew its garden in 1970. This is the earlier story, of a quinta of the age of King João V.
A chapel first
The oldest building here is not the house but the chapel beside it. The Ermida de São Sebastião is older than 1628, the date recorded in its tiles, and in the seventeenth century it was a place of real devotion, endowed by a captain, Estêvão Soares de Albergaria, who paid for its works. Around the chapel, and the square in front of it, the buildings followed.
A quinta of the age of João V
The estate itself is a creation of the eighteenth century. Local tradition links it to King João V, who reigned from 1706 to 1750, and the royal arms set into the rear façade give the tradition weight. Inventories of the garden describe what it once held: statues, fountains, tanks and walls dressed in azulejo, and a tiled bench that carried the date 1715.
That date places the garden in the golden age of Portuguese tiles, the decades when Lisbon's workshops covered walls, benches and stairs with blue-and-white panels, and when a quinta outside the city was where a courtier went to be seen at leisure.
Tile was the language of leisure.
Two hectares, in 1836
The house was not always this size. A letter of 1826, the oldest known to mention the estate, refers to a building smaller than today's. Ten years later, in 1836, the property is described as some two hectares: a house with its garden, orchards, a vineyard, a well and farm buildings. A working quinta, then, as much as a pleasure ground.
In the early twentieth century the estate passed through difficult years, and parts of it were lost. In 1920 its new owners, the Roxo family, called in Raul Lino to rebuild it. That is the next chapter.
A royal coat of arms, a tiled bench, a chapel older than 1628: the quinta keeps its centuries in plain sight.
What remains
Around 2007 the outer grounds of the old quinta became a residential ensemble of four buildings. The palace kept its own garden of some 2,780 m², with the tanks, pavilions and tile that tell this story. The estate stands within the protected ensemble of the Paço do Lumiar, a village of quintas that we explore in a separate story.
The palace is for sale through Wiseguys Properties: see Garden of Eden. Read also Raul Lino's rebuilding and Ribeiro Telles's garden.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Quinta de São Sebastião?
An eighteenth-century country estate at Paço do Lumiar, in the north of Lisbon, beside the Ermida de São Sebastião. It is included in the protected ensemble of the Paço do Lumiar.
Is it linked to King João V?
Local tradition links the estate to King João V (reigned 1706–1750), supported by the royal arms on its rear façade.
How old is the chapel?
The Ermida de São Sebastião is older than 1628, the date recorded in its tiles.
Who rebuilt the house?
The architect Raul Lino, in 1920, for the Roxo family. The garden was redesigned by Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles in 1970.
Is the palace for sale?
Yes, through Wiseguys Properties, as Garden of Eden.
Further reading: Portuguese Tiles: A Guide to the Azulejo, from Sintra to the Metro.
Sources: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, "Jardins da Quinta de São Sebastião" (record 10421); Jardins Históricos de Portugal; Rota do Paço do Lumiar, Centro Cultural da Ponte (2025). Photography: Wiseguys Properties.
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