QUEPEM, India -- In the small town of Quepem, in India's western state of Goa, lush green fields fringed by palm trees morph into a narrow path that leads to the stately Palacio do Deao, built in 1787 by the town's founder, Portuguese nobleman Jose Paulo de Almeida. After his death, the palace was occupied by a priest from the nearby Holy Cross Church, and then by nuns who ran it as a home for destitute women.
Today, the house and its beautiful terraced gardens are open to the public following restoration by the present owners, Reuben Vasco da Gama, an engineer, and his wife Celia, a microbiologist, who bought the then-dilapidated site in 2002 and restored it. With their two children, they live in the sprawling palace, conscious of the onerous task of preserving it.
