Anderson Cooper lives and works in New York City, so when he wants to get away, he really goes the distance.
Enter the CNN journalist's vacation home in Trancoso, Brazil—a 14-hour schlep from his home base in Manhattan. Cooper's stunning piece of paradise is featured in Architectural Digest's August 2016 issue, and as you can see from these photos, the property (dubbed "Casa Anderson," per local custom) is well worth the half-day of travel it takes to get there.
Cooper first visited Trancoso in 2013 with his partner, Benjamin Maisani, and their friend Andy Cohen. "Within a day I was fantasizing about buying a house there," Cooper tells the magazine. "Ben thought I'd lost my mind, and Andy, who is encouraging about almost everything, thought I was nuts, too."
"I put my bags down in the bungalow where we were staying, I walked out onto the porch overlooking the Quadrado, the town square, and I just watched for a couple of hours," he says. "In the late afternoon, the kids started playing soccer, the horsemen began to return from the fields, and the lights came on in the little fishermen's cottages. It's hard to explain the attraction, but I just sat there, spellbound."
Cooper's Trancoso retreat is comprised of four buildings (two main center buildings and two guest bungalows), making it an ideal spot to bring guests while still having the privacy to unwind solo if you choose.
"I don't get down there as often as I'd like," Cooper says, but he doesn't seem to have any regrets about building there. "In my New York office, though, I keep a picture of the Quadrado, which I find very meditative and calming," he tells Architectural Digest. "Just knowing that my house exists makes me happy."