Primarily based on the recognition of home excursions and actual property movies on-line, it’s clear that many people like to take a peek inside everybody else’s 4 partitions. And we particularly love to take action when the homes are fairly spectacular or distinctive.
How are the lounge and kitchen arrange? What have they held on the partitions? What’s revolutionary or completely different about this area’s structure? We take pleasure in seeing, experiencing, and studying extra concerning the course of.
Due to the preservation efforts of organizations behind locations like Gaudí’s Casa Vicens, Maison Hannon, and extra, we’ve the great alternative to grace their halls. With current open home festivals in lots of cities world wide, there’s no scarcity of thrilling locations to go to. Let’s discover some spectacular properties which are open to the general public and excellent for future journey plans.
Casa Vicens | Barcelona, Spain
Generally known as the primary vital fee that famend Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí obtained, Casa Vicens was designed as a single-family dwelling in 1883. Much like a lot of his works, the home is a vivid show of colour. Situated within the village of Gràcia, it exemplifies a mixture of Japanese, Islamic, and Mudejar structure. The distinctive home is an early instance of modernist structure, particularly the Artwork Nouveau type.
4 years after the proprietor Manel Vicens’s dying (1899), his widow bought the home to Antonio Jover Puig, a physician who spent most of his profession in Cuba. After passing down by generations, the property was finally put up on the market in 2014. MoraBanc purchased it and turned it right into a museum home, restoring it again to its authentic type.
Visiting: Casa Vicens opened its doorways to guests in 2017. See details about tickets right here.
Eames Home | California, USA
Within the midst of eucalyptus bushes lies the Eames Home. Its designers, Charles and Ray Eames, created the house within the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles within the late Forties as part of the Case Examine Home program. This system was in partnership with Arts and Structure journal, and the Eames Home, generally known as Case Examine Home #8, was the place Charles and Ray spent the remainder of their lives.
The Eameses designed the home to change into their dwelling and studio, whereas additionally contemplating the wants of many different {couples} post-World Battle II. They’d constructed the home to reflect the lifetime of a working couple whose youngsters have left the nest. Its hillside location and lovely glass panels, various between black, pink, and blue, present a singular allure, resulting in it turning into a up to date landmark for architects and vacationers alike.
Visiting: Excursions are solely out there by appointment. Electronic mail [email protected] at the least ten days prematurely to guide a tour.
Casa estudio en Godella | Valencia, Spain
Situated north of Valencia, this early twentieth-century home was renovated in 2022 by Esther Sanchis and Álvaro Olivares. The architect duo, recognized professionally as Sanchis Olivares, reworked the home into their dwelling studio. Whereas the area nonetheless accommodates conventional components, many areas wanted an entire redesign for correct residing. Its terrace acts a surprising point of interest of the house, bringing a way a peace and tranquility.
Visiting: The home was beforehand a part of Open Home Valencia. Whereas there isn’t any assure that it’ll be featured within the seventh version (operating from October twenty fourth to the twenty sixth), extra data could be discovered right here.
Residence and Studio Panos Valsamakis | Athens, Greece
This condo served as distinguished Greek ceramicist Panos Valsamakis’ dwelling in addition to a studio and exhibition area. Michalis Orros, an architect with important visible impairments, designed it within the Nineteen Sixties. Valsamakis Ceramics at the moment gives ceramic workshops, which happen in the identical area.
Visiting: See extra details about Valsamakis Ceramics workshops right here.
Villa Esche, Chemnitz | Germany
In 1902, Belgian architect and designer Henry van de Velde designed Villa Esche. He did in order a household dwelling for the Chemnitz-based textile producer Herbert Esche. The constructing and backyard are an Artwork Nouveau “gesamtkunstwerk” (that means a murals that makes use of all or many artwork varieties), in accordance with the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz web site.
Guests can see the previous eating room and the music salon with largely authentic furnishings of the Esche household. There’s additionally a everlasting exhibition of excellent works by Henry van de Velde on the highest stage and within the Villa Esche restaurant on the coach home.
Visiting: Basic admission is €6. Opening hours are from 10 a.m. to six p.m. Thursday by Sunday.
Maison de Verre | Paris, France
Pierre Chareau designed what has since been dubbed the glass home for its most outstanding characteristic. Constructed between 1928 and 1932, its distinctive design stands out amongst Paris’ structure. The glass facade is illuminated by floodlights at evening, which Untapped New York describes as a glow-in-the-dark impact. With traces of conventional Japanese structure, the home is “one of many trendy actions’ seminal homes,” writes Stiff+Trevillion. Initially belonging to a rich Parisian gynecologist, the home was at one level purchased by Robert M. Rubin, a retired American financier.
Visiting: Excursions of the Maison are sometimes given to solely architects and structure college students. To guide a solo or group tour, e mail [email protected] six to 9 months forward of time.
Tin Home | West London, England
Six pyramid-shaped pavilions organized round a courtyard with a swimming pool create architect Henning Stummel’s distinctive residence. Dubbed the Tin Home, its design is harking back to a Mediterranean village. With its earthy, heat hues and sculptural composition, Tin Home combines “a Nordic sense of austerity” with Stummel’s “love of Renaissance Italy,” in accordance with the architect’s web site. Architects Journal named it Home of the Yr, and it additionally gained a RIBA London award. Learn extra about it in this interview.
Visiting: Tin Home is open to guests through the Open Home Pageant in September. Guided excursions can be out there on Saturday, September thirteenth. Extra data is offered right here.
Maison Hannon | Brussels, Belgium
Architect Jules Brunfaut designed this Artwork Nouveau household home in 1902 for his buddies Marie Debard and Édouard Hannon. It displays Marie’s style for botany and Édouard’s style for poetry, antiquity, and expertise, in accordance with the Maison Hannon’s web site. The home is absolutely furnished by Émile Gallé’s institutions, comparable to chandeliers and furnishings. It is usually adorned by modern works by James Ensor, Victor Rousseau, and Émile Claus. Huge frescoes by Paul Baudouin adorn the partitions as properly.
Guests can see the previous residing areas, together with a Belgian Artwork Nouveau exhibition on the second ground. Moreover, there’s the greenhouse, overflowing onto the road and constructed fully of steel.
Visiting: Tickets can be found on-line for particular person and group guided excursions. Extra data is offered right here.
Apartamento Chagas | Lisbon, Portugal
Restored in 2019 by the structure agency João Tiago Aguiar Arquitectos, this Lisbon condo is a part of a constructing from the top of the nineteenth century and sits between the neighborhoods of Chiado and Santa Catarina. Its fundamental distinguishing components embrace the stained glass panels main right into a central courtyard lit by a big skylight. A part of the furnishings is custom-built, and the lounge contains a Portuguese tile wall by ceramics artist Maria Ana Vasco Costa.
Visiting: The condo was a part of a previous version of Open Home Lisboa. Whereas there aren’t any ensures it will likely be featured within the subsequent one (set for Could 2026), extra data could be discovered right here.
Isokon Constructing | London, England
The Garden Highway Flats—also called Isokon Flats—”pioneered the concept of minimalist, trendy metropolis residing.” Canadian modernist architect Wells Coates designed the constructing for its debut in 1934. Regardless of its compact residing areas, the restaurant and bar (the Isobar) act as a social hub for artists and intellectuals. Former residents embrace author Agatha Christie, Walter Gropius (generally known as the founding father of Bauhaus), and Marcel Breuer, a celebrated designer of modernist furnishings, per the Isokon web site.
Visiting: Though it’s an occupied condo constructing, Isokon permits guests to its gallery each Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from March to November. Entry is free. Extra data is offered right here.
Taliesin | Wisconsin, USA
This listing wouldn’t be full with out a Frank Lloyd Wright venture. Whereas Pennsylvania’s Fallingwater is arguably his most recognizable one, one other nice choice is Taliesin. This was the architect’s dwelling for practically fifty years. It was constructed on Wright’s familial homestead within the Lloyd Jones Valley, which dates again to the 1800s when his ancestors emigrated from Wales to Wisconsin, in accordance with the home’s preservation group. The home was “constructed to mix harmoniously with the encompassing surroundings,” following Wright’s ideas of natural structure. Along with the principle home, Taliesin has a number of different constructions—a few of them designed by Wright himself and others commissioned by kinfolk.
Visiting: Excursions can be found from Could 1st by October thirty first, together with November weekends. Tickets are up on the market right here. For extra Frank Lloyd Wright works within the space, there’s a 200-mile path by southern Wisconsin that includes 9 websites.
Phrases by Catarina Moura
Function Picture: Maison Hannon, 2023 | Picture by Grégory De Leeuw
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