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Renovation challenge: a Barcelona apartment with spectacular tiling

At the time the Second Spanish Republic was being proclaimed in 1931, construction was underway on this modernist building in Barcelona’s Dreta de l’Eixample. The time capsule property is now for sale in its original condition as an ambitious renovation project.

The 400 sq m apartment occupies the entire main floor of the Calle Valencia 273, one street over Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample Conservation Sector. It has a cache of period features, from wooden doors and ceiling frescoes to ornate hydraulic floors.

Photography: Fantastic Frank

What are hydraulic floors, you might wonder? Hydraulic floor tiles were made with pigmented cement and decorated with carpet-style patterns. They were all the rage in industrial-age Europe, though they fell out of use in the 1960s with the arrival of cheaper, mass-produced terrazzo. This Barcelona bolthole has them splashed across its interiors, which include seven bedrooms.

Towering five-metre-high coffered ceilings are decorated with plaster mouldings and painted scenes, while a number of slender wooden doors open onto a 9-metre terrace overlooking the streetscape.

Fantastic Frank is listing the Barcelona property for €1.79m.

Photography: Fantastic Frank

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