The service
Cartouche Heritage prepares heritage studies and provenance research on commission. Each commission is scoped and confirmed in writing before work begins.
Nature of the work
Studies are historical research documents. They are not structural inspections, legal title opinions, valuations, or planning advice. Heritage Biography studies draw on published civic and architectural history. True Provenance studies verify claims against primary archival sources; every factual statement is cited.
How the service is carried out
Every commission begins with an initial archive assessment, which establishes what is likely to survive for the property in question and what a study can reasonably expect to recover. Scope, fee and timeline are confirmed in writing on that basis before research begins.
Research then proceeds in four stages. Surviving evidence is gathered from property and land registers, notarial deeds, parish records, municipal building records, historic maps, trade directories, newspapers and architectural plans. Those fragments are assembled into a continuous account of who held the property, what was altered and how it was lived in. The property is then placed within the wider life of its street, city and period. Finally the written study is prepared.
Research is carried out by Louise Linde. Digital tools may be used to locate and index material, but every factual statement in a report is verified against the cited source before it appears.
What is delivered is a written, source-cited report containing the documented ownership history, the archival evidence behind it and the written biography of the building. Bilingual delivery is available on request. Turnaround is agreed per commission and depends on the archives involved.
Limits of the record
Archives are incomplete. Where a fact cannot be confirmed against the record, the study says so. No guarantee is given that a complete chain of ownership can be recovered for any given property.
Payment and delivery
Fees, timelines and deliverables are agreed per commission in writing before work begins. A deposit of 50% secures your commission. The remaining balance is payable on delivery. Bespoke Research commissions may carry a separate scoping fee, agreed before the deposit stage. Unless otherwise agreed, reports are delivered as digital documents.
Use of reports
Reports are prepared for the commissioning client. Resale or republication requires written permission. The client may share the report with buyers, agents and advisers connected to the property.
Cancellation and withdrawal
A commission may be cancelled in writing at any time. Subject to the consumer rights below, fees already paid are applied to research and other agreed work carried out up to the date of cancellation, and any remaining amount paid for work that has yet to be carried out is returned.
If you commission the service as a private individual rather than on behalf of a business, you normally have fourteen days from the date the commission is confirmed to withdraw from the contract. Where you want research to begin during that period, Cartouche Heritage will ask you to make an express written request. If you then withdraw before the work is complete, you must pay an amount proportionate to the work carried out up to the time of withdrawal. Once the service has been fully performed following your express request and your acknowledgement that the withdrawal right will end on full performance, the right to withdraw ends.
Limitation of liability
Reports are historical research documents and are relied on at the client's discretion. Cartouche Heritage accepts no liability for decisions taken on the basis of a report, including decisions relating to purchase, sale, valuation, restoration or planning. Where liability cannot be excluded by law, it is limited to the fee paid for the commission in question. Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.
Governing law
These terms are governed by Portuguese law.
Last updated: 23 July 2026.