O Zimbreiro is the Portuguese word for juniper, a tree whose berries are used for cooking or making gin. You can see them in our garden and along the paths around the house. It is also the name that the first occupants gave to the property.
First of all, it is a family story and a love for the Azores and especially the island of Pico.
Almost 30 years ago, Jérémy and his parents, Dani and François, discovered the Azores on holiday like you and me. They came back every year, at different seasons, to soak up the atmosphere of Pico a little more. Then, after a while, they decided to buy a piece of land and a ruin at the end of the island to build a holiday home. Life finally made it there main residence. Dani and François left their hairdressing salon in Belgium and settled in Piedade for good. They opened a pottery « O Oleiro » on the ground floor of their house.
During the installation, Jérémy came to spend several months on Pico to help them. They had to rebuild everything and tame this large piece of land of more than 3 hectares covered with bushes and corn fields.
In the first few years, the potter’s house was rebuilt and the first buildings were erected. The first rooms were built. The swimming pool and the wooden house followed. The first wooden house on Pico. O Zimbreiro was finally here.
I discovered the Azores and Pico at the age of 16 during a group trip. I immediately fell under the spell of its unique landscapes, its people and its life so different from the one I knew in France. I came back several years later to finish a Master’s degree in « Geography and Environment » at the Vineyard office in Madalena. Nothing had changed. After several weeks spent on the island, I met these Belgians from the end of the island whom I had often heard about. It was love at first sight: for this unique place, so green and different from the rest of Pico, and for Jeremy.
For almost 15 years now, we have been working together to develop O Zimbreiro. We are always looking for ways to improve our rooms and our garden. This garden which when I arrived was just starting to grow. As a lover of plants I was able to decorate this park to make it what it is today, a small flowery paradise.
I hope you will enjoy your holiday on Pico as much as we did and that your stay in our guesthouse will be unforgettable.
