Casa Batllo house by Gaudi, Barcelona

Casa Batllo is a six-storey rowhouse renovated by Gaudi, on the elegant street where the wealthy and fashionable built townhouses at the turn of the century, Passeig de Gracia. It's wonderful to walk up this street admiring the buildings. You can go inside to see Gaudi's strange creation, but I recommend only doing it first thing in the morning. Google maps lists that time as the least crowded. When we went, they had let in so many people that you could barely move or breathe, let alone see and enjoy the details of the mansion.

The mansion, built in 1877, was not appealing to buyers, but Josef Battlo (textile industrialist) bought it in 1903 anyway and had Gaudi renovate it. I can see why it was not appealing, as it is an odd maze of small, narrow, claustrophobic rooms, though apparently Gaudi changed the partitioning, so its hard to say who made the narrow rooms. This is made worse by the crowds.
Josef's wife's family lived in beautiful Casa Pia, a six minute walk south, but Josef wanted his house to look different, as audacious as Gaudi wanted.
The renovations are in Catalan Modernist style, which uses nature-inspired motifs, in this case a kind of skeletal design. The facade has skinny columns by the windows in bonelike shapes, and balconies shaped like masks. Broken pieces of tile form colorful sea-foam and bubbles on the facade, brightly lit by the morning sun. The rootop is like the scales of a dragon's back. Casa Battlo is often called House of Bones, or House of the Dragon.
There are beautiful ceramic mosaic details, starting at the lobby with its white and blue-green tiles. A handrail like the spine of an animal leads up the staircase. The arches are like an under-the-sea adventure. The second-floor gallery was a place to see and be seen, with stained glass windows. The shapes everywhere are unusual for a home, uneven oval windows, wavy pale wood, and a ceiling like a shell. Gaudi expanded the central well in order to bring light into the building through a huge skylight. He covered it with rich blue tiles in a checkered pattern. Overall, the effect is very busy- small spaces with more tiled patterns and never-before-experienced shapes than the brain can take in. From the back courtyard, you look up at iron balconies that are exceedingly busy, with windows behind them that have so many rectangles that there is another layer of busy! Individual elements can be appreciated, like a staircase tucked away, with strange yet beautiful curved wood. Letters painted in gold on doorways. Or raised tiles in the lightwell. Rows of sixty white chunky Mediterannean arches form the service areas or loft, a maze of tiny spaces. The gift shop is beyond crowded, in a room with metallic walls. 
The rooftop has a bulbous cross and tiled sloping chimneys. You can see across the rooftops of Barcelona, at people sitting on their balconies. Its not a very pretty view, but interesting nonetheless.
Some added touristic features come at the end of your self-guided tour (if you bought the second cheapest option)- an annoying strobing light show in one of the rooms (close your eyes!) and hanging aluminum chains in undulating lengths, in an evacuation staircase, the delight of selfie-takers.
After, have a fresh fruit smoothie, sandwich, or melted chocolate with four crunchy dipping bread slices! These are at Faborit, a cafe in Casa Amattler, a mansion next door created by another Catalan Modernist architect. Admire the stained glass, plants, and vintage lightbulbs. The counter-service area is crowded, but you can find a nice spot to sit indoors or out back. If I were to do it again, I'd eat at Faborit and walk Passeig de Gracia, but skip the tour of Casa Batllo.

Directions

Casa Batllo is located at 43 Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona.
Open 8:30am-10:30pm. Come first thing in the morning! Reserve tickets online.

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