Academy of Letters of Minas Gerais

(Former Borges da Costa Mansion)

Borges da Costa Mansion is the headquarters of the Academy of Letters of Minas Gerais (Casa de Alphonsus de Guimaraens) since 1987, when it received the loan of the state public power. The restoration was completed one year later. In 1994, an annex with an auditorium was built in the adjacent lot, where the house of the Halfeld family existed, a beautiful project by the architect Gustavo Penna. The contrast between the eclectic and the modern enhanced the beauty of the palace even more.

The residence of the doctor Eduardo Borges da Costa was founded in Bahia Street, number 1466, next to the house of the Halfeld, his in-laws, where he lived with the family. Inaugurated in 1929, it was built on the private clinic of Eduardo, erected in the basement in 1914, with the purpose of being the base of the future house. Currently, this space houses the collection of 20,000 books donated by the academic and former president of the Academy, Vivaldi Moreira.

The project, commissioned to the architect Luiz Signorelli, is in an eclectic style, with elements both contemporary and neoclassical. It is a residence of 44 rooms, which spent ten years in its construction and many workers commanded by master builder Mr. Antonio Mias. The wooden works were made by the Austrian Mr. Muchiutti and by the Italian Mr. Mario Bima; the works in marble, by the Natalli brothers and the stuccoes of the roofs by two Portuguese brought by the owner.

Implanted with remoteness and front and side gardens, it has two pavements, in addition to the subsoil. The entrance floor of this garden is from gnaisse. The access to the palace is frontal and is made by an inverted “Y” marble staircase that leads to the balcony, started by columns, also of white marble, with parapet in hollow balusters.

It is a building with irregular party, constituted by juxtaposition of two rectangular volumes and a minor third, in pentagonal format, corresponding to the frontal balcony, which is supported by six columns of fluted column and Corinthian chapiter. The showcases on the sides of the front façade bring lighting and color to the two floors of the house. On the second floor, there is a terrace with parapet in masonry and a worked iron lattice. Between the pavements and the crowning, the eaves have a decorative finish. The parapet is in full masonry and hides the cover. The decoration is sober and with facades covered with stone dust.

The balcony gives access to two rooms where the corridor rooms, living room, distribution rooms and dining room are distributed. The treatment is refined, the doors are padded, the floors in marquetry with blocks in light and dark tones of noble wood, such as the squares and the staircase with handrail and lower part worked.

Stucco ceilings and walls covered with panels of pressed leather and wood. The dining room has a partially double right foot and is illuminated by a large Belgian stained glass window with floral motifs in the Art Nouveau style. The volume of the back area, of the lower level, has three sections: the central one, of distribution and of connection with the previous block, and two lateral sections that have small rooms of employees, sanitary installation and kitchen and pantry.

The Jacaranda staircase leads to a small upper distribution corridor that receives handrail protection and arcades. The front block, has two large rooms and sanitary installation. The rear block has four rooms along the central room and a terrace at the back.

The basement, where the office was located, has five small rooms in the front. The space also has external access by the left lateral corridor of the land and internal by a small staircase.