Casa do Dafundo presents itself as a house of mysteries. In the seaside neighbourhood of Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo, just outside Lisbon, the mid-1960s façade is relatively humble: a single block of a building with a slanted roof, partly obscured by a magnolia tree. But there is more here than initially meets the eye – a situation that is hinted at by the hand-carved wooden front door with a bronze knocker in the shape of the Hamsa.
“I knew there was something special behind that door,” says Ambre Jarno, who first came across the house – designed and built in the mid-1960s by Portuguese husband-and-wife architects Francisco da Conceição Silva and Carmo Valente as their home – in 2022. She swiftly texted her partner, fellow French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance: “Look what I found for sale off-market.” He responded immediately to make an offer.
Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance and Ambre Jarno in the living room © Matilde Viegas
Duchaufour-Lawrance was already aware of the building’s charm. He had visited Casa do Dafundo five years earlier, a few months before relocating from Paris to Lisbon in order to “slow down and connect with nature”. In fact, his design practice has continued to grow, with clients including Ligne Roset, Hermès and Dior (his new collection of lights for the maison recently launched at Milan’s Salone del Mobile).
