the Crown, and Manuel José received a rent and noble peerage (1st Count of Penafiel), while renting out the estate until 1812. In 1833, he returned from self-imposed exile (owing to the Napoleonic conflicts), where he yielded the residence to shelter the injured from the Liberal Wars. At the same time, he begin a process of remodeling to improve the spaces, including painting the ceiling in the Sala do Brasão and adding framed paintings over the doors, as well as restoring many of the azulejos in the building. The marriage of his daughter (in 1859) resulted in the transfer of ownership to her, and her husband, a Brazilian diplomat. By 1871, improvements to the Sala Central (Central Hall) and Sala de Música (Hall of Music), which received stucco decoration, were completed under their stewardship. The residence remained in the hands of the descendants of the last High-Courier (Manuel José da Matta Sousa Coutinho) and the Counts/Marquesses of Penafiel, who allowed the building to fall into ruin. As a result, and owing to financial difficulties, in 1875, the property is sold to Quirino Luís António Louza. His daughter, Filipa Maria Lousa Canha, who was married to José Baptista Canha, contracted craftsmen to complete a few restoration projects. But, following her death, the palace was abandoned and began a slow decline. The last descendant of this family, Assunção Lousa Canha, died in 1961. In 1966, Miguel Quina acquired the property, initiating a total restoration of the building, creating the Casa Agrícola da Quinta da Matta (Agricultural House of the Matta Estate). As part of this project, in 1967, CIMOBIM Companhia Imobiliária e do Investimento SARL was authorized to proceed with the restoration and reintegration of the palace, under the direction of architects F.G. Berger. The property was nationalized in 1975. The ongoing restoration work on the palace was interrupted in 1976, with the restoration of the southern and central wings, in addition to the service areas. Architecture The palace is located on the outskirts of the parish of Loures, on large tracts of forested lands that include a sizeable "frontyard". Entrance to the building is made by accessing the main gate, that includes a portico with the sculpted coat-of-arms of the Counts/Marquesses of Penfiel. The layout of the building follows a "U"-shaped plan, comprising a central body that extends to the formal gardens in the rear (that also includes a tower in