The beautiful Alliança Fazenda was built in 1863 by the Baron of Rio Bonito, and was known for the high quality of coffee it produced. Impressive with its historic architecture, red tiled roof and stone wall features and framed by the magnificently tall imperial palms in the backdrop, it is now a sustainable, organic eco-farm, producing top-notch gastronomy and with a hotel lodge as well, with visits to this fazenda including tours of the entire coffee process, ending with a special-roast coffee from their beans.
The Fazenda União, owned by the Viscount of Ouro Preto, was built in 1836 and is a beautiful property that has turned from coffee plantation to a hotel inn that looks to be out of a storybook. Large Mediterranean-style heated swimming pool with pool bar, lakes to stroll around or ride swan boats, saunas, a mini-golf course, a tennis court, sand volleyball court, horseback riding, quad riding, trail walking, a little farm with farm animals for kids to visit, and a charming chapel where wedding ceremonies are held. In the magical gardens you will see antique features like old ox carts, carriage carts, and even a 1929 Ford Model T car. And inside the main house is decorated with original furniture from the 1800s, with the guest rooms being inspired by people of African tribes who arrived in Brazil, giving a nod to the past slave society of the fazendas in this area. The fazenda also houses a small reproduction of a slave’s quarters, complete with artifacts such as cribs, pestles, and even the reality of a branding iron and shackles.
The dramatic architecture of the Fazenda do Paraíso, built between 1845-1853, impresses with its towering imperial palm entryway, is one of the most beautiful, and the family who owns the fazenda has been living there for more than 100 years. You will enjoy a guided tour of this stunning fazenda with its authentic period furniture on the interior, as well as a lovely chapel. You will learn about the coffee growing processes, still with its original coffee harvesting and processing machinery that replaced the enslaved people at the time of abolition. And at the end of the tour, you will of course be treated to its fresh Brazilian coffee, locally-grown on the soil you are standing on.
The Takuara Fazenda, built around the 1830s by a commander who arrived from Portugal to this area who soon started growing coffee beans, is one of the few still producing coffee to this day. The name Taquara was given by the slaves, due to the abundance of a fine type of bamboo found on the property. The historical and unique building was built around the internal gardens and displays its original antique furniture and artwork. Here you will tour the property and be shown the whole process of coffee production through a guided tour, and at the end will be offered to try their freshly made coffees.
But only one fazenda in the region is listed as protected by the state- the Santa Eufrasia fazenda. Built around 1830 by another Portugues commander, is one of the most important historical buildings in the area and is protected by a government body with its authentic furniture and around 680 pieces from its original collection including three antique carriages in the gardens, as well as having one of the oldest coffee farms in Rio de Janeiro state. The plantation is still active and visitors can participate in the process of assembling coffee beans through a guided tour also through the gardens where you will discover the dam and water wheel from the old mill.