1883

El Capricho

1883-1885

This single-family home located in the town of Comillas (Cantabria) was built at the same time as Casa Vicens. The two homes share major similarities in terms of how the spaces were designed and adapted, as well as in the use of materials and Eastern influences.

Gaudí relied on Cristóbal Cascante as the master builder for the construction of this commission from Máximo Díaz de Quinajo, a returning Spanish émigré and an attorney who handled the legal affairs of his brother-in-law Antonio López y López, the Marquis of Comillas and father-in-law of Eusebi Güell, Gaudí’s great patron.

At Villa Quijano, the home where Máximo sought to retire, the Catalan architect gave shape to his client’s two great passions: music and botany. We can see these aspects take shape in numerous elements, such as in the musical windows and in the botanical details of the home’s tiles.