Casa Vicens, Barcelona

About Casa Vicens

This is the first house Gaudí designed after qualifying. His client was the stockbroker Manuel Vicens, and in 1883–1885 the architect built him a summer villa in what was then the separate town of Gràcia. Gràcia later became part of Barcelona, and the garden shrank considerably.

The young Gaudí drew on Moorish art from Andalusia and the East: the turrets, grilles, tiles and patterns are closer to Granada's palaces than to the future Sagrada Família. But you can already see him borrowing from nature: plants, palms, flowers. The house was UNESCO-listed in 2005 and opened to visitors in 2017 after restoration.

The marigold façade

The façade is the most memorable part. It's clad in green and white chequered tiles, with bands of tiles showing orange marigolds: legend has it they were growing on the plot when Gaudí first saw it. Red brick stripes, turrets and wrought-iron grilles of palm leaves complete the festive look.

The railings are cast as palm fronds, one of Gaudí's first works in metal, where plants become architecture. You can see the façade for free from Carrer de les Carolines, but the best angles are from the garden.

What to see at Casa Vicens

• The façade — marigold tiles and green and white chequers.
• The railings — wrought-iron palm fronds.
• The dining room — a ceiling of cherry branches and birds.
• The smoking room — a Moorish honeycomb ceiling.
• The garden and fountain — a cascade behind the house.
• The roof — turrets and views over Gràcia.

Inside the house

The family's decorated rooms survive inside. In the dining room the ceiling is painted with cherry branches and the walls with birds and leaves, as if you were sitting in a garden. The showpiece is the smoking room, whose papier-mâché ceiling looks like a honeycomb or Moorish stalactites, above walls of blue tile.

The upper floors hold an exhibition on the house's history and Gaudí's early years, with drawings, materials and a model of the villa as it first stood, surrounded by a large garden with a pond and cascade. From there you step out onto the roof, with turrets and tiles and views over Gràcia's rooftops to Tibidabo.

Tips for your visit

Casa Vicens pairs well with Park Güell, about 20 minutes' walk uphill. In between is Gràcia, with small squares, bars and shops and hardly any tourist crowds.

The house is small, so an hour is enough. Morning light shows off the façade tiles best, and there's a café in the garden. For photos, frame the façade through the palm-frond railings to get both the tiles and the ironwork. The museum shop sells replica marigold tiles, one of the more unusual souvenirs in Barcelona.

Places in Barcelona: compare and choose

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How to do it right

• Shorter queues than other Gaudí houses.
• Look for the marigold tiles.
• Gràcia and Park Güell are close.
• An hour is enough.

Questions