Paraíso House

Heavenly Outpost in Mystical Alto Paraíso

This generous palapa was created for a natural cure and a deep connection with nature by the folks behind the As Casas portfolio of homes in Brazil. Four bedrooms across multiple levels offer two king-sized and two queen-sized beds. A bunk room adjoins one of the double rooms, an ideal sleep space for kids. The spacious living room is anchored by a stately stone fireplace, and there’s an outdoor campfire pit in the lush garden. Decks and terraces line the home’s exterior, and both indoor and outdoor kitchens create multiple dining and entertainment options alfresco or inside. Palapa-styled, the property is part open air/part enclosed, and located close to the village center. Staff includes a concierge, a daily breakfast waiter, and a housekeeper.

Around

Located in the rugged state of Goiás in central Brazil, the home is walking distance from the center of Alto Paraíso within the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, a UNESCO-classified preserve cut through by dozens of trails, rivers, deep canyons and waterfalls. The region is primarily agricultural, though it was once the site of a gold rush in the 1700s, and several of its towns are distinguished by their Portuguese-colonial architecture. The primary city of Goiás is an example of colonial, 18th-century architecture and mining, built along the Rio Vermelho, and given UNESO World Heritage status in 2001.

Alto Paraíso itself is known as a spiritual center. Meaning High Paradise, the town offers an off-grid oasis for wellness practitioners, shamans, new age philosophers and ayahuasca practitioners all seeking higher states from its wild natural beauty, indigenous healing modalities and its astonishing wealth of natural quartz crystals. The town is referred to locally as the “capital of the third millennium” for the dozens of mystical, philosophical, and religious groups that have settled in the region in recent years.

Surrounded by a Cerrado landscape, South America’s largest savanna and the world’s richest biologically, the land around Alto Paraíso alternates between closed canopy forests, watery inlets and streams, and well drained grasslands, plus tropical vegetation. The Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park is known for its dramatic gorge-like canyons and its (aforementioned) quartz crystal rock formations. The park tops a vast plateau between 600 and 1650 meters above sea level that dates back some 1.8 billion years making the rock crystals among the planet’s oldest, sought out for both industrial and curative uses throughout history. The park is the site of a dizzying number of waterfalls, some that spill for over 100 meters downward. Home to dozens of orchid species, the park also hosts jaguars and toucans, armadillos and anteaters and endangered species such as the pampas and marsh deer, and maned wolf. Tropical bird life is abundant, too, including colorful toucans and ominous vultures.

Location

Nearest airport: Brasilia (125 miles)

Best time to visit

April to October

Photo credit: Bruno Pinheiro