page_title: Palacete do Pilar
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Palacete do Pilar / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The eastern courtyard with the lateral facade and maple tree, in the Palacete of Pilar in the civil parish of Conceição, municipality of Horta (Azores), Portugal Português: O pátio oriental com platano na Palaceta do Pilar, freguesia de Conceição, concelho de Horta, Açores, Portugal
context_page_description: The Residence of Pilar is a Baroque-era residence, now in complete ruins, on Lomba do Pilar in the civil parish of Conceição, municipality of Horta, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.
  The residence was one of the few formal solares or estate homes located on the island of Faial, that was abandoned, and later destroyed in a fire during the 20th century.
context_section_description: Pilar was the late 18th century residence of Manuel Inácio de Souza Sarmento, a rich politician in the municipal council of Horta and property-owner. He inherited from his father, brother and father-in-law a vast inheritance that he parlayed into property on the island, becoming a self-made millionaire in the process. Unlike many of the many estates in the Azores, this manor did not have any ancillary buildings normally associated with agricultural activities. It was conceived, along with many of the original structures, as a property of leisure, a residence with two floors with access directly to the main garden. Much of the palacette was constructed to function with the natural landscape. The two larger facades, oriented towards the south and east, were covered with windows giving views of Horta and Pico. The building was encircled with artificial platforms, delimited by median walls that were at the time gardened, but today are mere pasture. At the time, the mansion on Pilar was known for its library, considered more valuable then the libraries of the Franciscan friars of Horta, covered in wood brought back from Brazil and its ceiling encrusted with silver that imitated the heavens. The construction of the property was made from material almost totally imported onto the island. The house was decorated with mirrors, chandeliers, crystal and porcelain. Its well-manicured garden included laneways lined with exotic plants and marble pool.
  The home was the site of elegant parties and formal receptions, as well as meetings of intellectuals, family members and the high-society of Horta. Sarmento kept to his nest on Lomba, and only ventured out to the city in his golden litter and always with an attendant by his side.
  At the time of his death, the legendary patrimony was divided between his unscrupulous descendants. The ornate woods, windows, doors and decorations were all sold (even the marble pool was carted-off to personal residence in São Miguel) and in a few years, all had been lost by his successors.
  Dr. Antônio Severino de Avelar bought and recuperated what remained of the property, which was later inherited by his son-in-law, the Viscount of Leite Perry.
  Sometime in the 20th century, the abandoned structure was engulfed in flames, and the remainder of its floors were destroyed; there are still obvious remnants of the fire that burned down the two-storey building, leaving behind charred walls, flaked plaster and burnt beams.
  The Palacete, along with the nearby Hermitage of Pilar were designated as components of a group of architectonic features whose preservation was important to the city of Horta, by the Regional Government of the Azores on 16 April 2010, as part of the Urbanization plan.
caption: The main courtyard and the surviving maple tree, while the overgrown vegetation covers the rest of the promontory
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-W30", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ACD Systems Digital Imaging", "Image DateTime": "2012:04:07 23:31:35", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "255", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4289", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "12893", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:04:07 14:59:31", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:04:07 14:59:31", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF SubSecTime": "718", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1872", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4217", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}