Refurbished two-bedroom apartment in Rato, Príncipe Real

A 108 m² T2+1 apartment in Rato — two bedrooms and a third room — refurbished and never lived in, a few minutes on foot from Príncipe Real, Estrela and Avenida da Liberdade, with the yellow metro line at the door. It sits on the third floor of a building with no lift, where recent works have been completed.

The living room is the heart of the flat and faces west: wood floors, high ceilings and three full-height windows with wrought-iron railings, open over the rooftops of Lisbon. That is where the late-afternoon sun comes in. The kitchen is a separate room with a door, which keeps cooking smells and noise out of the living room when you have people over. There is also a balcony, two bathrooms and air conditioning throughout. Three flights of stairs are the price of the height — and the height is where this light and this view come from.

Rato is the hinge between Príncipe Real and Estrela: gardens, neighbourhood grocers, schools and restaurants within a walk, and Avenida da Liberdade a few minutes away. It is the kind of area you choose precisely so you do not need a car — the apartment has no parking space, and few people living on these streets miss one. The refurbishment is done, and so is the building's: nothing is waiting for whoever moves in.