A historical site

The property's history begins in the mid-19th century when the British ancestors of the current owners, the Leacock family, planted vines and banana trees on an area of 6 hectares.
Descendants of John Leacock, initiator of the Madeira wine trade with England in the mid-18th century, the family was one of the largest producers of this wine until 1925. The name of Leacock remains: it is still one of the Madeira Wine brands.

Quinta da Casa Branca is a large garden in this agricultural past.
Due to its exceptional location, the Leacock family, was convinced by an architect friend to develop a unique design hotel on the island.
Fully integrated into the vegetation, the first building was opened in 1998.
In 2002, new rooms were built, the building now spans an L which closes the field towards the Sun and the gardens.

Since 2003, Quinta da Casa Branca is a member of "Small Luxury Hotels of the World".

The contemporary architecture provides a fundamental role in the gardens
João Favila Menezes, an architect from Madeira on his fourties, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, is the author of the thoroughly modern and sober design glass, falling smoothly on the site.
"It was not easy to convince the Leacock family, but I wanted a complete rupture with the traditional architecture of the Quintas in Madeira. My primary objective was the integration of the building in its natural environment and being able to enjoy the beautiful seaview. Beyond this harmony, i wanted to remind the volcanic character of the island with its black stone, so i selected the slate as the main material”.
To fully appreciate this simple architectural design, the best place is the terrace behind the reception, a large cube of glass and steel, which offers a direct view to the ocean and the hills above the city.
With his colleagues, Teresa Ferreira and Luis Rosário, João Favila Menezes won, thanks to this work, the prestigious Madeira architecture award in 1999, the "City of Funchal Architecture Prize”.