# Casa Vicens, Barcelona > Casa Vicens is Antoni Gaudí's first house, built in 1883–1885 as a summer villa in Gràcia. Its façade is covered in green and white tiles with orange marigolds, and inside are painted ceilings, a Moorish smoking room and a garden with a fountain. It has been a museum since 2017; allow about an hour, and expect smaller crowds than at other Gaudí houses. Web page: https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/casa-vicens - City: [Barcelona](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona), Spain - YesGo score: 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - Opening hours: Daily - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Paid, book online - Highlights: Marigold tiles, the smoking room, the garden, the roof - Time needed: ≈ 1 hour - Queues: Usually short - Museum: Since 2017 - Location: Gràcia, Fontana metro (L3) - Coordinates: 41.40349, 2.15064 - Facts checked: 11.11.2026 ## Key facts - **1883–1885** — Gaudí's first house was built (source: English Wikipedia) - **Manuel Vicens** — the stockbroker who commissioned it (source: English Wikipedia) - **2005** — added to the UNESCO list (source: UNESCO, no. 320) - **2017** — opened as a museum (source: English Wikipedia) ## 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. > **Buying tickets** Book a timed ticket on the museum's site, with guided or audio-guided options. Queues are usually short, so Casa Vicens is a good choice when the Sagrada Família or Casa Batlló are sold out. Temporary exhibitions about Gaudí are sometimes on. ## 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. ## How to get to Casa Vicens 1. Metro: **Fontana** station on line L3 (green), a 5-minute walk. 2. Or **Lesseps** (L3), a 7-minute walk. 3. From [Casa Milà](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/casa-mila), about 20 minutes on foot through Gràcia. 4. The entrance is on Carrer de les Carolines. ## Tips for your visit Casa Vicens pairs well with [Park Güell](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/park-guell), 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. ## Before you go Tick off what's ready — your ticks are saved in this browser. - [ ] Book a timed ticket online - [ ] Find the marigolds on the façade tiles - [ ] Look up at the smoking room ceiling - [ ] Go up to the roof - [ ] Wander around Gràcia afterwards ## Places in Barcelona: compare and choose Places in Barcelona rated by YesGo. - [Camp Nou](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/camp-nou) — YesGo score 63/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 45 min · Paid - [Casa Batlló](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/casa-batllo) — YesGo score 55/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 15 min · Paid - [Barcelona Pavilion](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/barcelona-pavilion) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Paid - [Casa Vicens](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/casa-vicens) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Paid - [Casa Milà](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/casa-mila) — YesGo score 37/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Paid - [Picasso Museum](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/picasso-museum) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 45 min · Paid - [National Art Museum of Catalonia](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/mnac) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Paid - [Dalí Theatre-Museum](https://yesgo.io/spain/barcelona/dali-theatre-museum) — YesGo score 27/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Paid ## Don't mix it up Casa Vicens and the Gaudí House Museum are different buildings. The Gaudí House Museum is the pink villa in Park Güell where the architect later lived. ## Tips - Shorter queues than other Gaudí houses. - Look for the marigold tiles. - Gràcia and Park Güell are close. - An hour is enough. ## Questions ### What is Casa Vicens? Gaudí's first house, an 1883–1885 summer villa in Gràcia. ### How long do you need at Casa Vicens? About an hour. ### What is there to see at Casa Vicens? The marigold-tile façade, the dining room, the Moorish smoking room, the garden and the roof. ### How do I get to Casa Vicens? Metro L3 to Fontana, then a 5-minute walk. ### Do I need to book Casa Vicens? It's best to, though queues are usually short. ### Can I combine it with Park Güell? Yes, they're about 20 minutes apart on foot through Gràcia. ## How we checked Facts from English Wikipedia and UNESCO. Hours and prices weren't confirmed with an official source — hence the 'checking' badge. ## Sources - UNESCO: Works of Antoni Gaudí (no. 320) - English Wikipedia: Casa Vicens - Official site, casavicens.org --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.