Welcome to The Solar Branco Eco Estate
As you drive onto the road adjoining the estate, look up and you will see the estate known locally as “Solar Branco.” Imposing on the landscape, it commands a view over the green hills opposite to the ocean beyond. Livramento is a small town, perfectly situated between Ponta Delgada, Lagoa and Villa Franca. Historically, Livramento has been a wine-producing and citrus growing area, thanks to its proximity to the port of Ponta Delgada. We are working to restore the estate to its former glory with 10,000 native and locally grown plants, including vines, and 100 heritage orange and lemon trees.
The estate aims to be a leading sustainable hotel in the Azores. Our sustainable action and strategy plan can be found here.
Our restoration effort began when we took ownership of the property in late 2018. In 2019 we cleared the land, which had been left abandoned for over 50 years which has taken over a year to do. In this time we launched the experience arm of the company. In 2020, we completed our plans for the estate, including buildings and grounds as well as our sustainability strategy. We have a target of 10,000 plants for the grounds. These works will not be completed until 2022 at the earliest.
The buildings have been split into 3 phases. We have started with The Cottage and The Gin Library and the main building, The Solar is the next to be restored and will form the main part of the hotel with 4 rooms. Once completed we will then restore the ruin and then we will complete the 3 pig styes.
The Cottage and Gin Library are both open.
See more of The Solar Branco Eco Estate here.