Just a little bit of Trancoso gossip...The newest fab house owned by an international jet-setter is Philippe de Nicolay's, right near the Estrela d'Agua hotel. São Paulo a-listers have been talking about the house for months, because the Rothschild heir (son of Marie-Hèlene van Zuylen van Nyevelt-de Rohtschild and count François de Nicolay) had serious problems getting it built, since Trancoso regulations are very tough and no new structures are allowed on the beach. He got around the problem by buying a second piece of land behind his seafront paradise, which had been a pousada for years. Where the pousada once stood he built his personal Xanadu, helped by interior designer (and personal friend) Jorge Elias and architect David Bastos. Those who've seen the finished work say it's nothing short of amazing.
de Nicolay is only one of many wealthy aristos who have fallen in love with Trancoso.Countess Sabine Lovatelli built hers, with hubby Carlo, in the Terravista gated community a few years back, for instance. It sits facing the beautiful Terravista golf course, right beside the house of her friend Sig Bergamin, arguably Brazil's most celebrated interior designer (who, of course, did the work on Sabine's house as well as his own).
But the pioneer among the blue bloods was countess Georgina Brandolini (who was for many years Valentino's muse and also directed the Balmain couture house). Her rustic chic Trancoso house was even featured in the July 09 edition of W magazine.
The story managed to get it spot on: the description of Trancoso says it all. An excerpt:
"During the past few years, Trancoso has made its name as one of the so-called hippie-chic hot spots, those 21st-century answers to Goa or Bali that are luring in-the-know jetsetters. Many such places never manage to get either the “hippie” or the “chic” part quite right, but Trancoso scores high on both counts. Founded in 1586 by Portuguese missionaries, who built a quaint Catholic church and then moved on, the town remained contentedly off the grid until about 1970, when a small group of young counterculture types fleeing Brazil’s urban jungles for the real thing—showed up. Settling into the empty fishermen’s houses around the grass-covered Quadrado, a five-acre town square that overlooks the ocean, the biribandos mixed with local families in a barter-based collective, living off the land and the ocean. It was only in 1982 that electricity arrived, and not until almost two decades later that the latest wave of outsiders—fashionable São Paulo weekenders—rolled into town. Although the influx seemed likely to swallow the village whole, Trancoso has so far retained its unique brand of mellow charm, striking an ideal balance between the scruffy and the superfabulous."
Click here to read the full feature and to see a slideshow of Georgina Brandolini's Trancoso house.
And more Trancoso on this blog:
- Uxua, a new luxury boutique hotel in Trancoso
- Uxua's Casa Seu João: see photos
- Jacaré do Brasil: my favourite Trancoso pousada
- Jacaré do Brasil hosts hottest New Year's party
- A complete listing of hotels and pousadas that I recommend
- Terravista: one of the world's most beautiful golf courses
- Trancoso: all the best restaurants
- Trancoso and Espelho: top 5 things to do
- A slideshow of my favourite Trancoso photos
- Tauana hotel, in Corumbau, South of Trancoso
Rothschild count builds house in Trancoso, Bahia, near countess Georgina Brandolini's
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