Private Rio - Tapa dura

"Private Rio" features the most spectacular homes in one of the most breathtaking cities in the world: Rio de Janeiro. This sumptuous volume includes the Imperial Palace in the Petropolis district. Built following Napoleon's conquest of Portugal when the court was moved to Brazil, this is now the home of Prince Dom Pedro Gastao de Orleans e Braganca, heir to the throne of Brazil, and his wife, Dona Esperanza de Borbon, the aunt of King Juan Carlos of Spain. The Carneiro de Mondonca house, a neoclassical gem, is still inhabited by members of the family that built it in 1843. Also featured are the homes of Roberto and Lily Marinhosas, the media mogul whose garden is famous for its rare plants and beautiful birds. There are many other houses included, some with gardens by renowned landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx.

Andre Correa Do Lago, a diplomat and the son of a former Brazilian ambassador to the U.S., is a much-published and well-known writer, in Portuguese, on Brazilian architecture.