Rio de Janeiro has an escape from the heat, and it is an old one. Petrópolis sits 68 kilometres from the capital, Teresópolis under a hundred, and both were invented by the same family for the same reason: to climb the mountains when the summer turned brutal down below. The temperature gap is still the argument. While the city boils, the mountain region works in a band of 12 to 21 degrees in winter, with far less rain than in summer.
Two towns, one imperial couple
On 16 March 1843, Dom Pedro II signed the decree creating the settlement where his summer palace would be built. The name joined Latin and Greek, Petrus and pólis, and became the City of Peter. Town status followed in 1857. On the other side of the range, Teresópolis took the name of the empress, Teresa Cristina. Two towns, one couple, and the same idea of escaping the Rio summer without leaving the state.
Petrópolis, and what the Empire left behind
The summer palace Dom Pedro II had built between 1845 and 1862 became the Imperial Museum in 1943, and now holds furniture, documents, works and personal objects of the Brazilian monarchy. A short walk away stands the house of Santos Dumont, A Encantada, the inventor's summer home, with the eccentric domestic solutions he designed himself. The historic centre can be walked in a morning.
On the Petrópolis side we hold the country house with a waterfall in Petrópolis, which has a fall of its own inside the grounds.
Itaipava, the best-known address in the mountains
Itaipava is one of the five districts of Petrópolis and gathers much of the weekend traffic of the mountains, with restaurants, shops and gated estates set in the forest. It holds most of our mountain inventory.
Five houses: ITA001, in Vale Boa Esperança, inside a gated estate with no other building in sight, for twelve guests; ITA003, with twelve suites and room for 24, several of them with fireplaces and jacuzzis; the luxury villa in Itaipava; the house with a pool in the Rio mountains; and the farm in Secretário, in the neighbouring locality.
Teresópolis, the highest town in the state
On the other side of the range, Teresópolis stands at 871 metres, the highest of any town in the state of Rio, and it is from there that the Dedo de Deus dominates the horizon. The town has one foot in sport, with Granja Comary and with the mountaineering that began on the walls of the park, and the other in the weekend life of the mountains, with its market, its restaurants and residential neighbourhoods spread through the valley. It is where our most singular house in the region sits.
Quebra-Frascos, and the legend behind the name
Quebra-Frascos is a neighbourhood of large houses about twenty minutes from the centre of Teresópolis, and its name carries a legend that says a great deal about why people used to climb up here. The air was said to be so pure that it would cure respiratory illness on its own, tuberculosis included, so a visitor could arrive and break his medicine bottles. Quebra-frascos means, literally, break the flasks. The mountains were treated as the treatment.
TER001 sits in that neighbourhood: a 500 square metre mansion with six bedrooms, four of them en suite and two sharing a bathroom, for up to twelve guests. Parking for five cars and daily housekeeping are included.
Five hundred square metres, and a wood-fired oven
The house organises itself around the kitchen, and the kitchen organises itself around the wood-fired oven, used for pizza, bread and whatever else fits. It is the kind of room that changes how a group behaves: instead of everyone waiting for dinner, everyone takes part in it.
In the main room, under an exposed timber roof, the fireplace shares attention with the windows onto the garden. There is a library, a billiards room, a large pool, a pergola and a broad garden, the sort that asks for a table laid under the trees. Since the house stands in the highest town in the state, the nights come cold and silent even in summer.
The Serra dos Órgãos
The Serra dos Órgãos National Park was created on 30 November 1939 and is the third national park in Brazil, after Itatiaia and Iguaçu. It covers 20,030 hectares across Guapimirim, Magé, Petrópolis and Teresópolis.
The name is not poetic by accident. The vertical rock formations, carved by erosion, reminded the colonisers of the pipes of the organs in Portuguese churches. Pedra do Sino reaches 2,263 metres and is the high point of the park. The Dedo de Deus, at 1,692, is the postcard. And the Petrópolis to Teresópolis crossing, thirty kilometres walked over three days, is held by many to be the finest long-distance hike in the country.
What people do up there
In Teresópolis, Granja Comary is the training centre of the Brazilian national football team and receives visitors at the gatehouse, from 8am to 5pm, free of charge. The Feirinha do Alto market runs in Praça Higino da Silveira on Saturdays, Sundays and long holiday weekends, from 10am to 6pm, with clothing, craft and mountain produce. The orchid house of Quebra-Frascos sits in TER001's own neighbourhood. At the table, Viva Itália and Manjericão Casa de Pizza are the addresses the house tends to recommend.
In Petrópolis, beyond the imperial circuit, the programme is the Bohemia brewery and the mountain roads. In Itaipava, the restaurant strip in the centre.
When to go
Winter is the high season in these mountains, for a simple reason: it is when they deliver what they promise. Between June and August the temperature holds between 12 and 21 degrees through the day, and rainfall drops well below the summer average. It is the season of the lit fireplace and the fired oven.
Summer brings the greener landscape and the heavy afternoon rain, which in the mountains arrives fast and passes fast. July, long holiday weekends and the turn of the year are the busiest periods, and those are worth booking months ahead.
Getting there
For Petrópolis and Itaipava the road is the BR-040, 68 kilometres from Rio, about an hour without traffic. For Teresópolis, under a hundred kilometres on the BR-040 and BR-116, around an hour and forty. Guests arriving from abroad land at Galeão or Santos Dumont and drive up. Private transfer, a driver on call and a chef at the house are part of the concierge package, if you would rather settle everything before you arrive.
TER001 fact file
- Reference
- TER001
- Location
- Quebra-Frascos, Teresópolis, about 20 minutes from the centre
- Built area
- 500 m²
- Bedrooms
- 6, of which 4 en suite and 2 sharing a bathroom
- Bathrooms
- 5
- Beds
- 9
- Capacity
- 12 guests
- Kitchen
- Large, with a wood-fired oven for pizza and bread
- Leisure
- Pool, pergola, broad garden, indoor fireplace, library and billiards room
- Service
- Daily housekeeping included
- Parking
- 5 spaces
- Events
- On request. Weddings, birthdays and celebrations are assessed case by case
- Check-in and check-out
- 2 pm to 7 pm, and 6 am to 11 am
- Rate
- From R$ 2,815 per night
- Note
- The house does not accept pets and does not allow smoking in the bedrooms
Frequently asked questions
How many people does TER001 sleep?
The house takes up to 12 guests, in 6 bedrooms, four of them en suite and two sharing a bathroom, with 9 beds and 5 bathrooms in total.
Does TER001 allow events?
On request. Weddings, birthdays and celebrations are assessed case by case, so write to us before fixing a date.
How long is the drive from Rio de Janeiro to Teresópolis?
Under a hundred kilometres, about an hour and forty on the BR-040 and BR-116, depending on traffic. Petrópolis is closer, 68 kilometres on the BR-040.
When is the best time to visit Rio's mountain region?
Winter, between June and August, with temperatures between 12 and 21 degrees and far less rain than in summer. It is also when a fireplace and a wood-fired oven make the most sense.
How many houses do you have in the Rio mountains?
Seven in total: one in Teresópolis, five in Itaipava and around it, and one in Petrópolis, with capacities from 12 to 24 guests.
How to book
Every mountain house comes with the Villas in Brazil concierge included, from transfers to a chef at the house. Ask us about dates and rates, and read as well about the 2,000 m² house we hold in Trancoso.