The House

With the Atlantic Ocean on the horizon and just a 15-minute walk from the center of Ponta Delgada, Solar dos Cantos combines contemporary comfort with the charm and identity of an old family home.

The architecture and interior design preserve period details, reinterpreting with lightness and elegance the nature that surrounds the Solar. Present and past, painting and literature, architecture and design intertwine in spaces where pieces that have known the house since its earliest days remain.

In the spacious and bright rooms of the main house, the various shades of imperial green coexist with Parisian wallpapers, reminiscent of those brought from France by José do Canto, bearing witness to the tastes and customs of the nobility of the time.

The Garden

Surrounding the Solar, 1.5 hectares of botanical garden bring together species from different parts of the world, reflecting José do Canto's passion for agriculture, botany and gardening.

From camellias to cryptomerias, the diversity of species transforms the garden into a living heritage, where different shades of green accompany those who walk its paths. Among its specimens, a leafy rubber tree stands out, an imposing presence that welcomes those who arrive at the Solar.

It is in this setting, with the Atlantic on the horizon, that Solar dos Cantos finds one of its most striking characteristics: a permanent connection to nature, even though it is just minutes from the center of Ponta Delgada.

The Legacy

Solar dos Cantos is heir to the historical and cultural legacy of José do Canto, an enthusiast of agriculture, passionate about gardening and literature, who put down roots here and started a family in the mid-19th century.

This legacy remains particularly present in the old library. Once considered the second most valuable private library in the country, it housed around 16,000 titles, with works dating from the 15th century to the contemporary period of José do Canto, and copies of enormous value, including a first edition of Os Lusíadas, by Luís de Camões.

Today, the rooms located in this space keep that literary vocation alive, extending the house's connection to books, culture, and history.

Solar thus becomes a privileged starting point for discovering Ponta Delgada and the island of São Miguel, marked by an extraordinary natural, gastronomic, historical and cultural richness.