The little village of our dreams
A tiny house village, glamping and creative community bordering the river Mira in the south of Alentejo. An extraordinary place of creation, relaxation and inspiration that we get to share with our friends and friends disguised as strangers.
The Village
Unique tiny homes in all shapes and forms. A feast for the eye and a home for the kind. This is the little village we've always been hoping to find.
The Campsite
Want to dip you toe in our home-away-from home? Swing by, join our table, have a swim, build a treehouse, make a friend.. and leave forever changed.
A little village with a big heart.
That little village
we've been looking for
We wanted to live in the forest, and raise our kids amongst the trees. But we did not want to do it alone. Frankly, we’re done with doing everything alone! Who came up with that? Lucky for us, there are loads more people like us. So we got a bunch of fantastic humans together and set out to build the little village of our dreams.
Expect to find something fantastic in every corner of this space. With playgrounds for children and for grown-ups, areas for wellness and relaxation, spaces designed for connection, creation and celebration, and a full agenda of workshops, classes and activities for humans of all ages.
Who are we?
The family behind Vila Akoya
Joyaa
It takes a village to raise a child, and for us it took a child to build a village. Vila Akoya wouldn’t be anything without our daughter Joyaa. It’s with her in mind that we envision the village in which we want to raise her; a green and inspiring place with a vibrant community where she - and her brother - will get to grow, learn and adventure.
Joyaa is 10 years old now. She’s creative, funny, kind, smart and a great friend to have… and did I mention she’s creative?
Joyaa spends her days building castles for beetles with leaves and sticks that she finds, while singing songs about the things that she sees on her way, and what she thinks about them.
Joyaa is the artiste in our family, she loves reading, drawing, making music and climbing trees; she carries a big smile and an even bigger heart. You’ll feel it when you meet her - this little lady is someone special.
Sammy
My name is Sammy. I am Joyaa and Akhoda’s mother and Hans’s partner.
Besides a mother and partner, I am many other things. I have an entrepreneurial mind and a heart for sustainability; I founded and ran sustainable clothing and baby brands, and spend the last 4 years working on Vila Akoya. Just like Joyaa I am creative, love making music, learning new things and like to work with my hands.
I spent most of my adult life travelling the world, had Joyaa along the way, and about 6 years ago Hans joined us — or we him! Together we decided to settle down in Portugal to build our dream: Vila Akoya.
Hans said I should call myself the heart and soul of the project, and I will do so with a humble pride. I have a clear vision of the village we wish to build for our children and ourselves. A vision that I am grateful to get to share with so many others.
Within Vila Akoya I focus on the commercial aspects of the project, on being in touch with the villagers and visitors, designing the spaces, finding and building relationships with suppliers, partners and builders, building the community, making documents and writing lots of texts, like this one.
Hans
Hans is the brains and the muscles behind Vila Akoya. He knows and learns about the possibles and impossibles surrounding our projects. He always finds answers to the difficult questions, and he does so by tirelessly reading through piles of documents, underlining all that’s relevant and questioning all that can be questioned, then puts on his gloves and starts lifting whatever heavy needs lifting before brushing off his shirt to sit patiently with Joyaa working on her homework, or playing tirelessly with little Akhoda.
Hans has spent the last 8 years working in real estate. Before that he was a national champion fencer and fencing coach in Canada, ran an organic farm, holds a degree in Cognitive Science and Philosophy and studied and taught an Indian martial art called Kalaripayattu — pretty impressive, right?
Little Akhoda
In summer 2024 this little guy made our family complete. Akhoda is such a wonderful little person; he is strong but kind, he loves his family and the forest and meets plants and creatures with gentle hands and great curiosity.
For us he is a big inspiration to want to be our best selves — so that when he looks his big eyes up at us, he sees good people who work hard doing something beautiful and meaningful in the world. This project is exactly that, for us.
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