The right-foot stairs
The inventor's quirk.
Alexandre Machado from Florianópolis - SC, Brasil — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Stella Dauer from São Bernardo do Campo, Brasil — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Joalpe — CC BY-SA 4.0 · SouDiana — CC BY-SA 4.0 · SouDiana — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Santos Dumont House is a small summer home built in 1918 by Alberto Santos-Dumont, the aviation pioneer Brazilians call the father of aviation, on a steep slope of a street now named Rua do Encanto, so the house was nicknamed A Encantada, the Enchanted One. He wrote his second book here in 1918. The house reflects its inventor owner: three small floors with no walls between the rooms, a little observatory on the roof, and no kitchen, since he had his meals sent up from a nearby hotel restaurant. It has an alcohol-heated hot shower of his own invention, a rarity in Brazil at the time. Its best-known quirk is the outside staircase, designed so you can only start climbing with your right foot, while the inside one starts with the left. After his death his nephews gave the house to the town to keep his memory, and it was listed as a national monument in 1952. The visit is short, and the stairs are narrow and steep, so take care climbing.
The inventor's quirk.
Atop the little house.
His own invention.
Rua do Encanto 22, Petrópolis historic centre
Crystal PalaceThe Crystal Palace is an iron-and-glass pavilion in central Petrópolis, its part7 minutes walk4.6
Cathedral of PetrópolisThe Cathedral of São Pedro de Alcântara, the Cathedral of Petrópolis, is the tow9 minutes walk4.7
Imperial MuseumThe Imperial Museum is the summer palace of Emperor Pedro II, Brazil's last empe12 minutes walk4.9The outside staircase is designed so you can only start climbing with your right foot, and the inside one with your left, one of the inventor's quirks.