Loanda Farm

The coffee cycle was a period in Brazil's economic history, beginning in the mid-19th century and ending in 1930, during which coffee was the main product of the Brazilian economy. Coffee production developed rapidly throughout the 19th century, so that by the 1850s it already accounted for nearly half of Brazilian exports. The center-south region was chosen for cultivation because it offered the most suitable climatic conditions and soil, according to the needs of the coffee plant. The first major cultivated region was the Vale do Rio Paraíba (between the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro).^[2]

Having begun to be cultivated in 1825, the valley gathered, by the mid-19th century, the “largest share of Brazilian wealth.” The plantations followed the pattern of large American plantations—vast monoculture estates that relied on enslaved labor. Moving up the Paraíba River, coffee plantations reached São Paulo and the border region of Minas Gerais.^[2][3]

In 1887, Bananal was the second-largest slaveholding municipality, with 4,182 enslaved inhabitants, surpassed only by Campinas, which had 9,986. It also ranked second in terms of the value of enslaved people living there: 2,604 contos de réis (in Campinas, 6,851 contos de réis). Bananal could thus be considered one of the municipalities “of the greatest importance in coffee production.”^[4]

During the period of accelerated growth of coffee cultivation in the Paraíba Valley region, more specifically between 1836 and 1837, the then village of Bananal produced 64,822 arrobas of coffee (nearly 1 ton); 11% of the total production of the province of São Paulo. In Bananal, 82 farms were established, with 8 sugar mills and 12 aguardente distilleries. Each of them had its location carefully analyzed:^[5]

The choice of site; the layout of the settlement; the conditioning by the presence of water for the use of hydraulic energy; the suitability of the buildings intended for processing, storage, housing, and subsidiary activities [...].^[5]

The Loanda farm originated from the subdivision of sesmaria number 05 belonging to Manoel Antônio de Sá Carvalho, which was granted to Luiz José de Almeida after he married his daughter in 1791. In 1844, it was in the possession of Pedro Ramos Nogueira, the future Baron of Joatinga. The baron died at Fazenda Loanda in 1885.^[6][7]

Initially focused on the production of sugarcane, anise, corn, and other subsistence crops, during the 19th century the farm began producing coffee. In 2000, it was acquired by Pedro T. C. Teixeira, who was responsible for restoring the property. Currently, Fazenda Loanda is open for guided visits.^[6][7]

The manor house is set on land with some slope, supported by retaining walls and stone masonry walls. Above them, walls with a timber-frame structure (posts, sill beams, and wall plates), filled with adobe or wattle-and-daub infill.^[8]

Originally built in colonial style in the 18th century, it underwent renovation during the 19th century, when elements of neoclassical architecture were incorporated into the mansion. Its collection includes paintings, crystal, porcelain, and French furniture from that period.^[6][7]