Airbnb Will Offer Overnight Stays at the First Home Legendary Architect Antoni Gaudí Ever Designed for Just $1

Sarah Cascone June 23, 2021 ShareShare This Article

For the first time ever, members of the public will have a chance to spend a night in the first home designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Airbnb is offering single-night stays at Casa Vicens in Barcelona for the low-low price of just €1 ($1.19).

The catch? You’ll have to be fast. The once-in-a-lifetime chance to stay at the masterpiece of Neo-Mudéjar Moorish revival architecture will be offered on a first-come-first-served basis once reservations open at 10 a.m. EST on July 12.

Airbnb describes the home as “a fabulous multi-colored oasis which fuses Moorish, neoclassical, and organic motifs,” promising that “guests who request to book this overnight stay will have the chance to spend the night in another stunning jewel decorated by Gaudí in his distinctive version of Art Nouveau.”

Built between 1883 and 1885 as a summer home for industrialist Manel Vicens i Montaner, the building served as a private residence until it went on the market in 2007 with a €35 million ($39.24 million) asking price. The Andorran bank MoraBanc finally bought it for an undisclosed amount in 2014, soon unveiling plans to turn the property into a museum.

Casa Vicens. Photos by Belen Gonzalez, courtesy of Casa Vicens.

One of seven Gaudí buildings in the Barcelona area designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 2005, Casa Vicens opened to the public in 2017 after restorations. The Airbnb listing offers an all new way to experience the property. Two guests will get a private tour of the historic building from museum employee Emili Masferrer, the official Casa Vicens Airbnb host.

“I am part of the team that transformed this historic house into a museum and knowledgeable of all the secrets of its recent restoration project,” Masferrer said in his listing bio.

The stay will also include dinner with a “Gaudí-inspired Michelin star menu” from Barcelona restaurant Hofmann, served in the dining room, with a nightcap to follow in the smoking room, and a Mediterranean breakfast in the property’s private garden—”best croissants in town included!”

This isn’t the first time that Airbnb has teamed up with an art institution to offer a unique overnight experience. In 2019, the Louvre held a contest for a two-person sleepover at the Paris museum, with dinner and drinks in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s famed Mona Lisa. And in 2016, the Art Institute of Chicago recreated Vincent van Gogh’s bedroom and listed it on the vacation rental site for just $10 a night.

See more photos from the Casa Vicens Airbnb listing below.