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Sítio Roberto Burle Marx

In 1949, Roberto Burle Marx and his brother Guilherme Siegfried buy a piece of land, the Sítio Santo Antônio da Bica. The estate is now known as the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx, and is open to the public. In 2021, the site was designated as UNESCO world heritage for its historical, artistic and scientific importance.

From 1973, he will reside at Casa de Roberto for the rest of his life. The few rooms of the original house are extended with verandas, a guest room, a reception room and a music room. The numerous family heirlooms, souvenirs, everyday objects, sculptures of saints, Pre-Columbian ceramics, folk art pieces and seashells that are assembled in the rooms of the house attest to the range of his sources of inspiration. Burle Marx calls them “objects of poetic emotions”. Fixed to the outer wall of the veranda that faces the garden are four large carrancas, traditional figureheads from the region around the São Francisco River, watching over the house.

Burle Marx welcomes friends, acquaintances and colleagues to the Sítio. As a lover of fine cuisine, he not only helps to prepare the extravagant menus put together by his partner, the chef Cleofas César da Silva, but also personally sees to the table decorations, artfully arranging tropical plants on his own hand-painted tablecloths. To the accompaniment of a piano, he sings in a powerful baritone voice, lending a certain solemnity to the social gatherings.