at a glance

while economically significant, these farms were relatively small in comparison to the large coffee and sugar cane plantation that dominated the brazilian southeast in later years.

following two centuries of economic mismanagement, portuguese king dom joão vi, arrived to rio after fleeing the menace of napoleon in europe, and condemned the estate to be divided and auctioned.

following a stint under the direction of french magnate charles leblon, for whom the adjacent tract of land is named, the strip facing the ocean was sold to commander francisco josé fialho, who passed it on to his son josé antónio moreira filho - better known as the baron of ipanema (barão de ipanema).

in 1886 the baron inherited a dilapidated plantation that, at the time, was only accessible by boat or on foot. however, he took on colonel antónio josé da silva as a business partner and began the construction of villa ipanema, which would consist of 19 streets and two plazas.