When British architect Robin Crosland arrived in the Algarve in 1982, Praia da Luz was little more than a quiet fishing community. Robin had been working as an architect since 1972, when he stumbled across an exciting opportunity advertised in The Sunday Times. He immediately responded to the advert, and weeks later Algarve developers John Garveigh and David Symington offered him a partnership position to design and oversee the Luz Ocean Club development.
The Luz Ocean Club development stretched across much of the town; its low-rise sea-view apartments and gardens helped shape Praia da Luz as it is today. Alongside Silvia Batista, his trusted right-hand woman, Robin not only developed the resort but also ran its day-to-day operations.
Unlike many resort towns, Praia da Luz developed a strong sense of community and magnetic pull; many of its 5,000 residents first arrived as holidaymakers and simply never left. Before long, Robin was joined by friends and family, including his sister Judy, who ran the beachfront shop, Boutique Capricho, from the 1980s until recently.
Meanwhile, as Robin was busy drawing up the blueprints for Praia da Luz, Barbara Jean Sweeney (30) was spending her days working at the Royal Bank of Canada in West Vancouver. As the summer approached, Barbara weighed up her European vacation options: Greece or Portugal? In the end, the decision came easily. The Portuguese, she felt, were warmer, kinder, and more charming than their Mediterranean counterparts. What’s more, her school friend Joanne was living near Praia da Luz at the time. So Barbara packed her bags and headed for the Algarve in search of golden sand, long nights, and cold glasses of vinho verde.
A whirlwind romance
Joanne arranged for Barbara to stay in an apartment villa in the Garden Phase of the Luz Ocean Club. On her second night in Portugal, she and Joanne went drinking at the Duke of Holland (the place to be on a Praia da Luz evening between 1980 and 2010). It was about 9 pm when Robin came in for his evening Sagres imperial. By this point, Barbara and Joanne had already been drinking for some hours, but that played no part in how Barbara immediately felt for Robin. Joanne, who already knew Robin, introduced them, and a chemistry formed effortlessly between the pair. Within days, Barbara and Robin had fallen into a whirlwind romance.
Days later, Barbara’s good friends Tracy and Margaret arrived at Faro Airport and were picked up by Robin, Barbara and Joanne. They headed straight for the Silves beer festival, where they drank and danced late into the night. The following morning, Barbara confessed to Margaret that she had felt jealous watching her dance with Robin at the festival. Margaret apologised before enquiring if she ‘liked’ Robin.
“I’m in love with him,” she replied. Barbara had been in Portugal for barely a week.
At first, her friends dismissed the relationship as nothing more than a summer fling. But as the weeks passed, it became clear that the bond between Robin and Barbara was something far deeper. Their affection for one another grew stronger throughout the summer, which made it especially difficult when the time came for Robin to depart on an overseas business trip.
At Faro Airport, Barbara and Robin were tearful as they confessed their love to each other. They had only known each other for a matter of weeks, but Robin had never felt as sure of anything as he was of this. He reached into the pocket of his customary 1980s aeroplane blazer and dropped to one knee, asking Barbara to marry him. Without hesitation, she said yes. Barbara returned to Praia da Luz engaged, ecstatic, but also saddened by Robin’s departure.
“I miss you and can’t bear the thought of flying back to Vancouver and being farther away from you,” Barbara wrote in a letter to Robin while he was away. Each evening at eight o’clock, Barbara would walk to the telephone box on Rua Direita, hoping for a good line so that she could speak with Robin – their calls lasted hours as they imagined their future together.
When the time came for Barbara to return to Canada, she was overcome with sadness. Robin’s sister Judy and his niece Kate drove her to Faro Airport and handed her a letter Robin had written before departing. Inside was a carefully detailed plan, one that the couple had already discussed at length. It outlined exactly how Barbara should return to Vancouver, resign from her position at the bank, and tell her religious Irish parents that she had fallen in love and was moving to Portugal to be with her British fiancé.
Naturally, her parents were suspicious. Her mother’s first remark was, “Well, I hope he speaks the Queen’s English!”
Loving life in Luz
But it didn’t take long for them to recognise how happy their daughter was. Barbara’s father, Murray, spoke with Robin over the telephone before giving his wholehearted blessing. Soon after, Barbara organised a huge garage sale, sold everything she owned, and travelled 5,000 miles to start her new life in the Algarve with Robin.
From there, life moved fast for Robin and Barbara. They settled into No. 1 Luz Mews on the beachfront, and Barbara joined the Ocean Club team, helping to organise and host its much-loved weekly events, including the Wednesday night barbecue, with grilled sardines, traditional folklore dancing from the Rancho Folclórico e Etnográfico de Odiáxere, and “as much wine as you can drink”.
Barbara’s warm touch and attention to detail meant the Luz Ocean Club quickly became a Praia da Luz institution, renowned for its weekly Sunday roast and the annual New Year’s Day party, which was attended by the entire town.
On 14 November 1986, less than a year after Barbara’s move to Portugal, she and Robin tied the knot on a rainy day in Gibraltar. At this time, Barbara was seven months pregnant with their first daughter, Charli. The ceremony was attended by close family members, including Robin’s mother, Mary, and Barbara’s parents, Murray and Patricia, all of whom had now bought properties in and around Praia da Luz so they could be closer to Barbara and Robin as they began building their family.
A family affair
Charli was born in January 1987 and was soon followed by her brothers, Ben and Harry. Over the years, Barbara and Robin lived in several homes around Praia da Luz before eventually settling at their family home in Herdade do Funchal. Their children attended Barlavento International School, where Robin served on the board of governors for over twenty years.
The children later went to boarding school in the UK and Barbara, who couldn’t bear being so far from her kids, moved to an English cottage to be close by during term time. This marked the beginning of the family’s international lifestyle: Charli later moved to Dubai, Harry to Canada and London, while Ben returned to Praia da Luz, where he started a family of his own. Barbara and Robin spent much of their later years visiting their children abroad, from Dubai to Vancouver. However, the Algarve, where they first met and fell in love, always remained home. Their connection to the area endured, with all three children marrying at Ben’s family home in Cama da Vaca, near Praia da Luz.
In 2024, Barbara passed away suddenly, just months before her 70th birthday. Her death came as a great shock to the family, especially Robin, who had lost his soulmate of almost forty years. After her passing, the family continued to grow under Robin’s loving care and leadership: Charli and her husband, Jack, welcomed their first child, while Ben and his wife, Zoe, had their second.
All his life, Robin had remained remarkably fit and would often surprise people when he revealed he was, in fact, eighty years old. He credited his good health to the Algarve sunshine and its ocean air. However, in 2025, Robin was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure in the 1970s. His family believe the loss of Barbara triggered and accelerated his asbestos-related illness.
Robin died peacefully on 13 May, 2026 at the family home in Herdade do Funchal, cared for throughout his illness by his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He lived an extraordinary eighty years, filled with love and adventure, from Canada to the Algarve. His children take comfort in knowing he has now been reunited with Barbara, his soulmate – somewhere far away but still in Praia da Luz, sharing another drink at the Duke of Holland and walking together once more along the beach.
