The only modernist work in the country that remains exactly as it premiered

Casa Navàs, due to its unique character, is one of the finest examples of Modernisme in Europe. Built between 1901 and 1908 by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and the decorator Gaspar Homar, it is the only Modernista building in Spain that has survived to this day in its original state. The building was commissioned by Joaquim Navàs, a wealthy textile merchant, during a period of great economic activity in Reus. Navàs and his wife, Pepa Blasco, asked Domènech i Montaner to design a shop-house on one of the corners of Plaça del Mercadal. The commission had a virtually unlimited budget, which explains why it became one of the Barcelona architect's most lavish works.

As the second capital of Catalonia, Reus was one of the cities most heavily bombed during the Spanish Civil War, and Casa Navàs also suffered the effects. Due to a bombing in 1938, the tower was destroyed, along with a large part of the roof and some of the rooms on the second floor. After the war, many of the rooms were restored by the owners themselves; however, due to budgetary constraints, they had to omit some ornamental elements of the façade, such as the pediment and the turret. The new owners of Casa Navàs reconstructed the pediment in 2020, and work is currently underway on the reconstruction of the turret, a project expected to be completed in 2025.

The house boasts the most complete, imaginative, and splendid interior of Catalan Modernism. Entering the house is like stepping into a vast, ornate garden, where the stained-glass windows, covering more than two hundred square meters, stand out among the skylights, partitions, doors, and windows. Almost all the decorative elements are also preserved intact, including the furniture, embroidered tapestries, ceramics, paintings, silk fabrics, lighting fixtures, and blinds. To carry out all this work, Domènech i Montaner surrounded himself with the finest artisans of the time, such as Gaspar Homar, Lluís Bru, Antoni Rigalt Bausís, and Hipólito Montseny.