The Butantã's House, or Bandeirante's House, is a Bandeirista-style building from the Brazilian colonial period located in Butantã, a neighborhood of the city of São Paulo;[1] representing one of the typical rural dwelling models of São Paulo, it was built around the first half of the 18th-century in an extensive area peripheral to the original urban nucleus.

[6] The house was listed by the Council for the Defense of Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Tourist Heritage (Conselho de Defesa do Patrimônio Histórico, Arqueológico, Artístico e Turístico - CONDEPHAAT)[7] in 1982.

To secure the occupation of the Portuguese portion of the American lands between 1543 and 1536, King John III of Portugal divided Brazil into hereditary captaincies.

Being a nation of navigators, and given the large quantity of rivers in Brazilian territory, the penetration of the interior of the continent was managed by the courses of the fluvial waters.

This complex network of roads, combining river and land routes, entered the sertão, towards Paraguay and the limits between the domains of Portugal and Spain.

[12] More than 30 mission villages were destroyed, and captured natives and religious ornaments were brought to São Paulo as war heritage, among which were carvings and images.

Once the Jesuit threat was removed and the defense of the territory was guaranteed, the Paulistas undertook a series of exploratory expeditions, aspiring to discover metals and precious stones in the interior of Brazil.

The Portuguese project to define the American borders based on the reality of the great rivers was realized, disregarding the ideal imaginary line proposed in Tordesillas.

The Tietê River continued to function as a penetration route to the interior, connecting São Paulo to Mato Grosso, by means of monsoons.

[13][14][15] Adapted to the function of farm headquarters, the bandeirista houses[16] continued to be used until the introduction of coffee in agriculture, when a new style of architecture was adopted.

[17] In an attempt to get rid of the crown's orders and find a climate similar to Europe, Jesuits and Portuguese who had no fortune left the coast, crossed the wall of the Serra do Mar and founded the city.

[21] Even so, the house is called like this because in 1954, on the eve of the 400th anniversary celebrations of the city, they decided to give this name to the place as part of the festivities.

Located near the banks of the Pinheiros River, it is a remnant of the colonial period buildings from São Paulo, known for the remarkable architecture of the time, with walls made of rammed earth and high ceilings.

The Bandeirantes[16] were men from the colonial period, 16th and 17th centuries, who traveled through the backlands in search of precious stones, gold, capturing Indigenous and slaves.

[13][14] The best known bandeirantes were Manuel Borba Gato, Fernão Dias Pais Leme and Bartolomeu Buenou da Silva.

[12] With the expulsion of the Jesuits[22] in 1759 and the seizure of the goods, the house was taken to auction and possibly, on this occasion, passed into the hands of third parties, finally becoming the property of the Vieira de Medeiros family.

[5][23] The middle one communicates with the service porch, which gives access to the room where the harnesses and baskets were kept, and which also served as a workshop for repairs.

The windows of the bedrooms were blocked with wooden bars, which made these rooms excellent "prisons" for the children of the house, when they got into mischief.

[5] They are cultural spaces capable of housing different museological practices that involve the action of various social subjects and that, therefore, are heritage of the entire population of the city.

02 of January 24, 1983 In March 1954, when Guilherme de Almeida took over the presidency of the Commission for the IV Centennial of the City of São Paulo,[19][27] wishing to give a more regional stamp to the celebrations by marking them with something connected to São Paulo's historical past, he decided to restore the old house, which, at the time, was abandoned and doomed to disappear.

The intention was, once restored, to furnish it with the furniture and objects peculiar to the rural residences of the time, so that it could give an idea of the family atmosphere of a farm from the bandeirantes era.

Thanks to the intervention of Mr. Carlos A. Gomes Cardim Filho, the mayor of the city has granted the "Bandeirante's House" to the IV Centennial Commission.