Trancoso, thirty years on

When the first luxury hotel arrived in Trancoso in the late 1990s, no one predicted that twenty years later the strip of sand would be home to some of the most discreet — and expensive — houses on the Brazilian coast.

The pioneer generation

The architects behind those first houses share a common concern today: how to keep an identity when success invites imitation. Local materials, thatched roofs, openness to the forest and limited height are original pillars that still translate into informal guidelines.

The risk of standardization

There is a "Trancoso" aesthetic that became a reference — and a cliché. The most coveted houses today are those that converse with that language without repeating it, weaving in contemporary programs (home studio, spa, native landscaping) without losing the original lightness.

What comes next

The interviewees agree: the next decade belongs to those who know how to subtract. Smaller houses, more integrated into the forest, with a lean program — carefully designed bedrooms, generous common areas, no excess. More architecture, less square footage.