SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

Welcome to another country special in our summer series designed to help you make the most of a week(end) away. If you missed our previous instalments on Germany, The Netherlands and France, you can find them on our homepage. Let's continue our journey to Spain, where eight modern house museums are ready to welcome you! Explore Barcelona, a treasure trove of 20th-century masterpieces, or take a trip to the Basque Country and make some fascinating discoveries. We’ve arranged the houses here chronologically, from youngest to oldest. Even if you decide to have a staycation this summer, you can still travel the houses from home. Enjoy!

Note: Plan your visit(s) well in advance, as house museums can have irregular visiting times and coronavirus guidelines often require online reservation.

Museo Chillida Leku, Eduardo Chillida, Hernani, 2000
Chillida Leku is home to the most comprehensive collection of sculptor Eduardo Chillida's works. Located near San Sebastián, it comprises a sculpture park and exhibition space inside a converted 16th-century Basque country house. Here he created a place where future generations could experience his work as he intended.

Can Lis, Jørn Utzon, Mallorca, 1971
After Utzon left the Sydney Opera project in 1966, he settled on Majorca, first buying land in the mountains where Can Feliz, Utzon’s other house, was eventually built in 1994. But, the local authorities would not permit him to build on the mountainside. Instead, he bought land near Porto Petro, on a steep cliff facing the sea, where he built Can Lis.

Casa Broner, Erwin Broner, Ibiza, 1960
German architect and painter Erwin Broner built this house, spectacularly located on a clifftop in Sa Penya. Broner also designed the furniture, which is exhibited in the house, together with his paintings, drawings and personal items. Casa Broner beautifully combines the native architectural tradition of Ibiza with the style of the Bauhaus.

La Ricarda, Antonio Bonet Castellana, El Prat de Llobregat, 1949-63
Near Barcelona, the Gomis House (aka La Ricarda) is a modular structure spreading over the landscape in harmony with nature. The house still has all its original furnishings and is still owned by the Gomis family, although it is now threatened by the expansion of the nearby airport.

Casa Bloc Apartment Museum, Josep Lluís Sert, Josep Torres Clavé, Barcelona, 1932-1939
An innovative answer to the call for affordable housing, Casa Bloc is a long, rectilinear S-shaped building with two partially open courtyards. The 207 housing units it contains combine standardisation and flexibility. One of the apartments has been meticulously restored to its original condition.

Casa Masó, Rafael Masó, Girona, 1919
Casa Masó, the birthplace of architect Rafael Masó, is the only house along the river in Girona’s old city that is open to the public as a house museum. The house was also a meeting place for artists, literary and political figures associated with Noucentisme, an arts movement that defined Catalan culture and politics during the 1910s and 1920s.

Casa Milà / La Pedrera, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet, Barcelona, 1912
Gaudí designed Casa Milà at the height of his career. It was highly innovative in everything from spatial distribution to construction methods. It soon became known as La Pedrera (the stone quarry) because of the resemblance of its façade to an open quarry. In 1984, Unesco inscribed the building in its World Heritage List.

El Capricho de Gaudí, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet, Comillas, 1883-1885
El Capricho is one of the few buildings designed by Gaudí outside Catalonia. Located on the northern Spanish coastline, it is colourfully creative, inspired by nature and full of symbolism. Many of the materials and concepts developed here were later used for Barcelona’s Park Güell, La Pedrera, Casa Batlló and the Sagrada Família.

Posted 16 July 2020