This so-called "philosopher's dwelling" and its grounds were built between 1904 and 1911 by Antonio Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, who had made his fortune in Brazil, according to the plans of Italian architect Manini. The palace bears testament to its owner's mythical-magical dreams and the Romantic period. It features a slightly mad style, somewhere between the neo-Gothic and the neo-Manueline. It is also home to a Romantic garden, a mixture of exotic plants and spontaneous vegetation, marking the starting point for a strange philosophical journey. The "initiate's path" leads from Freemasonic symbols into Manueline constructions, from the Gods' Terrace to the bottom of a monumental well, a sort of inverted tower leading down some 27 m. A descent into one's inner self before finding the path to paradise, which passes by a lake.