The Eco Lodge is a 142 m2 natural building villa. It has a kitchen, living room, terrace, green roof, garage, 3 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. It is designed for tourism. It's located 1.2km from the parking lot area for non 4x4 cars. The house is even more integrated into the landscape than the Colmeia house. We wanted the green roof to literally merge into the grasslands around the house. Just like in our Colmeia project, we used cob as the main building technique simply because it, in our experience, makes for the most beautiful results. It allows us to build in any form. We’ve also chosen to use a lot of windows -the Eco Lodge will have even more windows than Colmeia! People want to soak in the beauty of nature from inside the house. It is also healthier and more sustainable and energy-efficient to use natural light instead of electricity for lighting up your house. The Eco Lodge is another example of how we can naturally build outstanding houses. We want to show that it is possible to substitute modern conventional houses with naturally built houses. We achieve the same levels of user comfort and also surpass conventional houses on various fronts. Natural Building Presets Integration with the landscape Use natural materials and recycled materials Natural lighting in the house Living room and kitchen should have large windows to see the beautiful views Zero humidity Green roof good thermal insulation for the cold winter nights

In 2014, we – Hilaine, Bart, Roger, Nico and Lucas Bijen – decided to come to Brazil to create the Eco Caminhos self-sustainable farm. We are idealists with experiences in social projects, engineering, management, entrepreneurship and Brazilian youth education. We like to reach out to the masses, connect with people, and enjoy the exchange of energies and knowledge. We believe that the challenges we face and will continue to face throughout our trajectory will make us grow as human beings. We are now cooperating with the local community and inviting people with similar dreams to join us. One of our great motivations is that Earth is in crisis. With 7.3 billion people on this planet, the world faces unprecedented challenges: polluted cities, a growing number of natural disasters, pandemics, financial crises, hungry people, war, terrorism and corruption. And we of Eco Caminhos are part of a growing counter-movement that seeks a simpler and more committed lifestyle in finding and sharing sustainable solutions. We believe in autonomous and communal living in terms of food, energy and building materials, exchange of knowledge, skills and experiences among people.

In Nova Friburgo, in addition to the Parish of São João Batista, administrative headquarters, there are the parishes of São José do Ribeirão, Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Paquequer and Nossa Senhora de Sebastiana. This last parish was called Terras Frias, currently Campo do Coelho, third district of Nova Friburgo. On the occasion of the acquisition of some sesmarias to found the term of Nova Friburgo, among them the Fazenda do Morro Queimado, chosen for the administrative operation and headquarters of the village, King D. João VI reserved the Fazenda Córrego d’Anta as private property. The Swiss Confederation, more precisely the Canton of Fribourg, signed an agreement with King D. João VI to receive Swiss settlers. Between November 1819 and March 1820, settlers arrived in Brazil. Although D. João VI had stipulated the arrival of approximately 800 people, 1,631 Swiss from different cantons of the Swiss Confederation arrived. The land donated to the Swiss colonists was mostly unsuitable for agricultural activity, and for this reason, many abandoned the Colonial Nucleus. In the opinion of contemporaries at the time, the project of establishing a colonial nucleus of European settlers was a failure. Even so, the Swiss continued to emigrate to Nova Friburgo and Cantagalo. This was the case of Etienne Alexis Cardinaux. If you go to Campo do Coelho, you will see a sign indicating the location of Cardinot, which has suffered corruption in the civil registry, as the original name is Cardinaux. Peaceful place, the sociability of the place are the football matches on Sunday with clubs from other neighborhoods and then the beer in the bar in front of the field. The Cardinot starts at Pedra da Caledônia and extends to the Friburgo-Teresópolis road. The town has simple houses and the beauty of its simplicity.