— The Profile
Maja Milič
Twenty-five years of work, held in one hand. A practice in Cascais where the person who draws the floorplan is the same person who oversees the build — and answers your call ten years after the keys turn.
— The Founder
Cascais ever since.
Maja was born in Italy. She lived in Belgium and Scandinavia, and Northern European design — cosiness, warmth, natural colours — shaped how she thought about a room. By the time she came to Cascais, the eye was already formed.
She started as a designer. But her vision rarely made it from the drawing to the room — the output subpar, the intent lost in translation. The only way for clients to see what she saw was to lead the work herself. That is how Maya’s Homes began — every trade in-house. No subcontractors. No telephone game. No quiet handoffs.
Maja speaks seven languages. She is on site every day. Maya's Homes takes on only what she can finish in her own hand.
— The House
Welcome to
Maja’s home.
The workspace is a house. Maja lives and works in the same T5 home in Alcabideche where every drawing begins, every sample is tested, every renovation finds its first room. Clients are received here, at the table where the work itself is made.
Every project begins with a visit — to your space, or to hers.
“Subcontracting would be easier and cheaper. It is also not how Maya’s Homes works — and never will. The precision and quality I promise cannot come from someone else’s hand.”
— Maja Milič
— On this coast
Built for the rain
as much as the sun.
The Cascais coastline runs east to west. Most of the year the light is direct and the days are dry — then the rain arrives, and the house tells you exactly how well it was built. Portugal is two climates in one, and a renovation here has to answer both.
Years working this stretch of the coast mean the failure points stop being surprises. Where water finds a way in. Which materials can’t stand the August heat. Every spec and finish is selected with both seasons in mind.
Villas, apartments, the conversions in between — across the range of high-end residential interior design we take on, the failures repeat. We know what cutting corners costs a year or two on. We know what to hold the line on.
The work has to outlast the weather. It is why clients return for their next home, never to repair the first one. That is the only standard worth keeping.
— Selected work
Six houses, no two alike.
Different briefs, different addresses, one pair of hands. Drawn by Maja, run by Maja, signed off only when there’s nothing left to fix.
— Tap image to play
From five countries,
Eight hands. One signature.
Maja draws. These eight build. The same hands on every Maya’s Homes home, year after year.
Bogdan
Site Foreman
Fifteen years on site. Ukrainian.
Iurie
Tiling & Masonry
Twenty-five years on site. Moldovan.
Yurii
Electrics & Drywall
Eight years on site. Ukrainian.
Vlad
Finishing & Joinery
Six years on site. Ukrainian.
Ivan
Plastering & Plumbing
Seven years on site. Ukrainian.
Artur
Masonry & Construction
Five years on site. Italian.
Jhon
Structural & Construction
Four years on site. Colombian.
Lukas
Operations & Digital
Two years with the studio. Slovenian.
1 / 8
From Italy, Slovenia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Colombia — assembled in Cascais, around one practice, around one rule.
— Design to install
One line, all the way through.
— The practice in numbers
Twenty-five years. Held in one hand.
25
Years
Renovating in Cascais and the Lisbon corridor.
8
Hands
On the bench. Every trade held in-house.
7
Languages
Spoken by Maja directly with every client.
72
Years
Of collective on-site work across the bench.
Interior Design Institute · Cascais School of Arts & Design · IMPIC Alvará 97976‑PAR · AMI 18698 · Carpentry · Joinery · Tiling · Masonry · Electrics · Drywall · Plaster · Plumbing — every trade held in-house.
— A note from Maja
Most renovations start as somebody else’s plan, then become somebody else’s project. Mine don’t. I draw the home, I am on site every day, and the trades work for me — never a subcontractor. That is the only way I know to build a home worth keeping.
Write whenever you’re ready — a paragraph, a question, a photo of the room that’s been bothering you. I read every email myself. Usually I reply the same day.
— Maja Milič