Mary Cornelius-Reid | A PASSION EXTRAORDINAIRE
Monte da Palhagueira
Another feather in her cap was the creation of a memorial to units of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force, which were stationed at the Abbey during the Second World War. When she discovered that there was no memorial in London to these units, Mary decided there should be one at the Abbey and was awarded the Australian Medal( A. M) for her endeavours.
“ I feel that this is even more important than being given the M. B. E. for services to the community” she says. On the ground floor, there is a dedicated memorial to the serviceman from Australia and Canada who served in the war, with plaques of all the regiments, photographs, medals, awards and the most recent addition- a collection of brass shells recently discovered in a blocked drain!“ People can come to visit, with prior arrangement. We show them around and include the Chinese Summer House, which I restored in the 1980’ s”, she explains. The Summer House was originally commissioned by Charles, Duke of Queensbury in the 18th century and so Mary duly arranged for the present Duchess of Queensbury to open it in 1986, in the presence of the Chinese Ambassador and his wife. The restoration received a Euro Nostra award for excellence.
Not satisfied with two successful nursing homes in the UK, Mary found and bought a third in 1986 – Sutton Manor, in Sutton Scotney. This was the former home of Lord Rank, set in 60 acres of lawned gardens just a few miles from Winchester. Sutton Manor now comprises 27 individual nursing and six residential rooms within the mansion itself, with a further 37 apartments, cottages and houses in the grounds making up the retirement village. Unusually for retirement housing, the cottages are thatched and are always in high demand.
Mary received the M. B. E. in 2000, but her proudest moment was the completion of St. Luke’ s Church at Monte da Palhagueira, her beautiful retirement village and nursing home in Gorjoes, near Santa Barbara de Nexe.“ The church was consecrated 12 years ago and is the only Anglican Church in the Algarve” she explains.
Her love of Portugal started 34 years ago, when she and her journalist husband John, who died in 1997, started holidaying on the Algarve. They rented properties for a few years and then decided to buy a holiday home. They bought an old wreck, about 10 miles from Monte da Palhagueira, and fully renovated it.“ John got to know many people in the area and everyone said, do please open a nursing home here. So we scoured the area and eventually found a derelict farmhouse in 22 hectares and set into the hillside and transformed it into the nursing home 20 years ago” she says.
After the nursing home, Mary starting converting and building new houses for people to retire to and live in independently, as in the UK. The Village is now finished, surrounded by beautiful gardens and with a very successful restaurant, Le Marquis da Palhagueira, which was voted best in the Algarve by Diners Club magazine last year.
12 | Summer 2012 | www. portugal-life. net |