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We visited the Boa Esperança Farm in Belmiro Braga, MG, a farm that was a major coffee producer in the Zona da Mata Mineira. Its origins date back to Antônio Bernardino de Barros. In 1820, he acquired two land grants from Guarda-Mor João Francisco de Souza, who had received them from the Portuguese Crown. Antônio Bernardino was the founder of São José and died in 1842. José Bernardino de Barros inherited part of the land from his father and was the most illustrious owner of the farm. He was one of the largest coffee producers in the country, owner of one of the largest fortunes in the empire, and was honored by Dom Pedro II with the title of Baron of the Three Islands and officer of the Imperial Order of the Rose. José Bernardino began construction on the current headquarters around 1870, and it was one of the last large coffee farm headquarters built in the region. The baron was a man of refined style who spared no expense in the construction. The building materials used were the best available at the time; even the tiles were imported from Europe. The mansion has twenty rooms, including living rooms, bedrooms, a chapel, a kitchen and an internal bathroom, a novelty for the time. The walls are made of wattle and daub and covered with mortar. Some walls are painted, others are covered with wallpaper. The farmhouse has a rich historical and cultural collection of the coffee cycle, consisting of paintings, furniture, crockery, crystal and historical documents. In addition to the farmhouse, the complex also includes a stone patio for drying the coffee and the barn, where it was stored. To visit the farm and stay in São José das Três Ilhas: / pousadaepousadasaojose