Vargem Grande Farm

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Vargem Grande Farm (Fazenda Vargem Paulista in Portuguese) is a farm founded in 1837 in the municipality of Areias, a town located in the interior of the state of São Paulo. It was an important farm during the Brazilian coffee cycle.

History

Foundation and Decline

The construction of the main house dates back to 1837, when Brazil was under the monarchy, specifically under the rule of Dom Pedro II, a period recorded in Brazilian history as the Empire of Brazil.

The farm was part of the coffee-producing properties that operated at the height of the coffee cycle in the Paraíba Valley, which for many decades was responsible for a large share of the world's coffee production. It belonged to the Captain-Major Gabriel Monteiro da Silva, one of the largest coffee growers in the town (he also owned Fazenda Quilombo in the same village). In 1856, the property had 83 enslaved people and a monjolo (a water-powered mill) used for processing coffee. An inventory from that same year, registered at the Orphans’ Court of the village of Areias, indicated that the farm had 40,000 coffee trees and yielded the owner a total estate valued at 893:136$134, including furniture, livestock, outstanding debts (274 debtors), food supplies, real estate, money collected by the tax office, bonds, and cash held by the guardian. The estate would be divided among his 29 nephews.

With the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889, much of the coffee production that had been concentrated in the Paraíba Valley shifted to the Western region of São Paulo, stretching from Campinas to Rio Claro. Due to several factors such as soil exhaustion, the decline of enslaved labor in Brazil, and infrastructure delays, the Paraíba Valley as a whole entered into decline, including Vargem Grande Farm.

Enslaved People

The 1856 inventory lists the following individuals (Name - Nation - Age - Value):

  • Egidia — Creole — 19 years old — 900$000
  • Sabina — Creole — 3 years old — 350$000
  • Leopoldina — Creole — 2 years old — 350$000
  • Perpétua — Creole — 10 months old — 150$000
  • Ludovico — African-born — 45 years old — 550$000
  • Barbara — African-born — 35 years old — 800$000
  • Leonardo — Creole — 10 years old — 400$000
  • Dionisio — African-born — 44 years old — 900$000

Revival

In 1973, the property was purchased by Clemente Fagundes Gomes, who conducted a detailed study using photographs and documents to reconstruct the original configuration of the farm buildings, aiming to recover the farm's memory and ensure its historical preservation.

In addition to the restoration, the farm gained a garden designed by the renowned landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, one of the most highly regarded in Brazil.

Present Days

Today, the farm is dedicated to historical and architectural tourism and operates as a rural hotel. The property offers numerous rooms, guided tours, horseback riding, and several other attractions.

Architecture

Its slave quarters were built using rammed earth (taipa). The 1856 inventory indicated the existence of several buildings on the property, including (Building - Use - Measures - Value):

  • Two stretches of rammed-earth houses — slave quarters (married enslaved people) — 30 × 40 palms each
  • Three houses — slave quarters (married enslaved people) — 30 × 30 palms each
  • House with six stretches — slave quarters (single enslaved people) — 20 palms each
  • Rammed-earth house with balustrade — use not informed — 45 × 40 palms
  • Two floored houses — coffee storage barns — 30 × 32 palms each
  • Floored house — rice and bean storage barn — 30 × 32 palms
  • House — granary — 50 × 50 palms
  • House with mill — sugarcane mill (ox-powered) — 50 palms frontage
  • Three deteriorated stretches of houses — sugarcane mill
  • Three stretches of houses plus annex — dwelling/support
  • Two-story house with kitchen — dwelling
  • Two-story house with glass windows — dwelling — 90 × 70 palms

Burle Marx Garden

With the previously mentioned restoration commissioned by Clemente Fagundes Gomes, Roberto Burle Marx was invited to design and implement a modern garden on the property. The project encompasses several features of a modern garden and includes three levels and five reflecting pools. The garden also contains stone sculptures, nineteen waterfalls, and two swimming pools. The garden's construction is considered one of Roberto Burle Marx's major works.

The farm was used as a filming location for the movie Memórias Póstumas (2001), based on the novel Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis, directed by André Klotzel and starring Reginaldo Faria.

The farm was also visited by actor Leopoldo Pacheco and his wife Bel Gomes on the television program Casa Brasileira, broadcast on the cable channel GNT.

References