Simple Living: Cabins by the River

CabanasNoRi by architect Manuel Aires Mateus is a two-cabin property in the village of Comporta, Portugal. The small cabins reuse wood from old fisherman’s huts and maintain the rustic quality of their origins. Left raw and topped off with pitched roofing, the buildings are quite traditional. Interestingly, the private and public spaces are divided between the two structures, so that the den and kitchen are in one cabin and the bedroom and bathroom are in the other. Furnished with little more than a bed and canopy, the bedroom suite epitomizes the simple elegance of the design. The natural environment is far more complex than the cabins themselves. Outside, there is sand, grass, and the Sado river, accessible by a small stilted jetty.