A Vilanova Artigas Masterpiece Enters the Market

For the first time in six decades, one of architect João Batista Vilanova Artigas’s masterpieces — commissioned by eminent Brazilian demographer Elza Berquó — enters the real estate market after remaining, for an entire lifetime, under the same roof and within the same family. More than a property, it is a living legacy overflowing with history, peace, and fulfillment.

Its location is among its most exceptional features. In Chácara Monte Alegre, on a gated street lined with dense trees, the house directly borders Chácara Flora, one of the best-preserved green areas in São Paulo’s south zone. Here, the city recedes and the horizon opens in green, light, and silence — a rare connection with nature for those living in the metropolis. Each morning begins with birdsong, each afternoon invites a breath of calm, and each night ends in serenity.

The architectural concept organizes the entire residence around an internal courtyard covered by an operable glass skylight. The reinforced concrete slab rests on four tree trunks instead of conventional columns — a solution that earned the house its nickname: Casa dos Troncos. It is as if nature itself were supporting the home, while daylight descends gently over each room, shifting in tone with every hour and guiding the rhythm of the day like a sunlit compass. In the morning, golden light; at dusk, honeyed tones; at night, a starry sky framed in glass.

Without corridors, the main house flows in continuity: the social area connects to the vestibule and to the intimate rooms that wrap around the courtyard without rigid compartmentalization. Each space breathes into the next, and the gaze travels freely — from the living room to the greenery, from the greenery to the sky. The feeling is one of spaciousness, freedom, and a home that welcomes without enclosing. In the 1980s, Artigas himself designed an addition on the adjacent lot, expanding the social area with a pool and a leisure space — a dialogue between generations of the same architect, transforming the house into a permanent invitation to well-being.

There are three suites — two in the main house and one in the annex —, a balcony, powder room, walk-in closet, pantry, fireplace, and private pool, in addition to four parking spaces. All of this within 723 m² of interior area on a 1,105 m² lot. Every room was designed for comfort and a seamless connection with the surroundings, in a rare balance between signature architecture and everyday living.

Part of the group of nine works by the architect protected by CONPRESP, this residence carries the seal of singularity: a legacy that unites historical value with the experience of inhabiting it. To live here is to wake up every day inside a work of art — where signature architecture meets the well-being of those who dwell within it, and every detail invites peace, longevity, and fulfillment. A safe harbor where each day begins and ends in harmony.