Based on the popularity of house tours and real estate videos online, it’s clear that many of us love to take a peek inside everyone else’s four walls. And we especially love to do so when the houses are quite impressive or unique.
How are the living room and kitchen set up? What have they hung on the walls? What’s innovative or different about this space’s architecture? We enjoy seeing, experiencing, and learning more about the process.
Thanks to the preservation efforts of organizations behind places like Gaudí’s Casa Vicens, Maison Hannon, and more, we have the wonderful opportunity to grace their halls. With recent open house festivals in many cities around the world, there’s no shortage of exciting places to visit. Let’s explore some impressive homes that are open to the public and perfect for future travel plans.
Casa Vicens | Barcelona, Spain
Known as the first important commission that renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí received, Casa Vicens was designed as a single-family home in 1883. Similar to many of his works, the house is a vivid display of color. Located in the village of Gràcia, it exemplifies a mix of Eastern, Islamic, and Mudejar architecture. The unique house is an early example of modernist architecture, specifically the Art Nouveau style.
Four years after the owner Manel Vicens’s death (1899), his widow sold the house to Antonio Jover Puig, a doctor who spent most of his career in Cuba. After passing down through generations, the property was eventually put up for sale in 2014. MoraBanc bought it and turned it into a museum house, restoring it back to its original form.
Visiting: Casa Vicens opened its doors to visitors in 2017. See information about tickets here.
Eames House | California, USA
In the midst of eucalyptus trees lies the Eames House. Its designers, Charles and Ray Eames, created the home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles in the late 1940s as a part of the Case Study House program. The program was in partnership with Arts and Architecture magazine, and the Eames House, known as Case Study House #8, was where Charles and Ray spent the rest of their lives.
The Eameses designed the house to become their home and studio, while also considering the needs of many other couples post-World War II. They had built the house to mirror the life of a working couple whose children have left the nest. Its hillside location and gorgeous glass panels, varying between black, red, and blue, provide a unique charm, leading to it becoming a contemporary landmark for architects and tourists alike.
Visiting: Tours are only available by appointment. Email [email protected] at least ten days in advance to book a tour.
Casa estudio en Godella | Valencia, Spain
Located north of Valencia, this early twentieth-century house was renovated in 2022 by Esther Sanchis and Álvaro Olivares. The architect duo, known professionally as Sanchis Olivares, transformed the house into their home studio. While the space still contains traditional elements, many areas needed a complete redesign for proper living. Its terrace acts a stunning focal point of the home, bringing a sense a peace and tranquility.
Visiting: The house was previously part of Open House Valencia. While there is no guarantee that it’ll be featured in the seventh edition (running from October 24th to the 26th), more information can be found here.
Residence and Studio Panos Valsamakis | Athens, Greece
This apartment served as distinguished Greek ceramicist Panos Valsamakis’ home as well as a studio and exhibition space. Michalis Orros, an architect with significant visual impairments, designed it in the 1960s. Valsamakis Ceramics currently offers ceramic workshops, which take place in the same space.
Visiting: See more information about Valsamakis Ceramics workshops here.
Villa Esche, Chemnitz | Germany
In 1902, Belgian architect and designer Henry van de Velde designed Villa Esche. He did so as a family home for the Chemnitz-based textile manufacturer Herbert Esche. The building and garden are an Art Nouveau “gesamtkunstwerk” (meaning a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms), according to the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz website.
Visitors can see the former dining room and the music salon with largely original furnishings of the Esche family. There’s also a permanent exhibition of outstanding works by Henry van de Velde on the top level and in the Villa Esche restaurant at the coach house.
Visiting: General admission is €6. Opening hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Maison de Verre | Paris, France
Pierre Chareau designed what has since been dubbed the glass house for its most prominent feature. Built between 1928 and 1932, its unique design stands out amongst Paris’ architecture. The glass facade is illuminated by floodlights at night, which Untapped New York describes as a glow-in-the-dark effect. With traces of traditional Japanese architecture, the house is “one of the modern movements’ seminal houses,” writes Stiff+Trevillion. Originally belonging to a wealthy Parisian gynecologist, the house was at one point bought by Robert M. Rubin, a retired American financier.
Visiting: Tours of the Maison are typically given to only architects and architecture students. To book a solo or group tour, email [email protected] six to nine months ahead of time.
Tin House | West London, England
Six pyramid-shaped pavilions arranged around a courtyard with a swimming pool create architect Henning Stummel’s unique residence. Dubbed the Tin House, its design is reminiscent of a Mediterranean village. With its earthy, warm hues and sculptural composition, Tin House combines “a Nordic sense of austerity” with Stummel’s “love of Renaissance Italy,” according to the architect’s website. Architects Journal named it House of the Year, and it also won a RIBA London award. Read more about it in this interview.
Visiting: Tin House is open to visitors during the Open House Festival in September. Guided tours will be available on Saturday, September 13th. More information is available here.
Maison Hannon | Brussels, Belgium
Architect Jules Brunfaut designed this Art Nouveau family house in 1902 for his friends Marie Debard and Édouard Hannon. It reflects Marie’s taste for botany and Édouard’s taste for poetry, antiquity, and technology, according to the Maison Hannon’s website. The house is fully furnished by Émile Gallé’s establishments, such as chandeliers and furniture. It is also decorated by contemporary works by James Ensor, Victor Rousseau, and Émile Claus. Vast frescoes by Paul Baudouin adorn the walls as well.
Visitors can see the old living spaces, including a Belgian Art Nouveau exhibition on the second floor. Additionally, there’s the greenhouse, overflowing onto the street and built entirely of metal.
Visiting: Tickets are available online for individual and group guided tours. More information is available here.
Apartamento Chagas | Lisbon, Portugal
Restored in 2019 by the architecture firm João Tiago Aguiar Arquitectos, this Lisbon apartment is part of a building from the end of the nineteenth century and sits between the neighborhoods of Chiado and Santa Catarina. Its main distinguishing elements include the stained glass panels leading into a central courtyard lit by a large skylight. Part of the furniture is custom-built, and the living room features a Portuguese tile wall by ceramics artist Maria Ana Vasco Costa.
Visiting: The apartment was part of a past edition of Open House Lisboa. While there are no guarantees it will be featured in the next one (set for May 2026), more information can be found here.
Isokon Building | London, England
The Lawn Road Flats—also known as Isokon Flats—”pioneered the idea of minimalist, stylish city living.” Canadian modernist architect Wells Coates designed the building for its debut in 1934. Despite its compact living spaces, the restaurant and bar (the Isobar) act as a social hub for artists and intellectuals. Former residents include writer Agatha Christie, Walter Gropius (known as the founder of Bauhaus), and Marcel Breuer, a celebrated designer of modernist furniture, per the Isokon website.
Visiting: Although it is an occupied apartment building, Isokon allows visitors to its gallery every Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from March to November. Entry is free. More information is available here.
Taliesin | Wisconsin, USA
This list would not be complete without a Frank Lloyd Wright project. While Pennsylvania’s Fallingwater is arguably his most recognizable one, another great option is Taliesin. This was the architect’s home for nearly fifty years. It was built on Wright’s familial homestead in the Lloyd Jones Valley, which dates back to the 1800s when his ancestors emigrated from Wales to Wisconsin, according to the house’s preservation organization. The house was “built to blend harmoniously with the surrounding environment,” following Wright’s principles of organic architecture. In addition to the main house, Taliesin has several other structures—some of them designed by Wright himself and others commissioned by relatives.
Visiting: Tours are available from May 1st through October 31st, along with November weekends. Tickets are up for sale here. For more Frank Lloyd Wright works in the area, there’s a 200-mile trail through southern Wisconsin featuring nine sites.
Words by Catarina Moura
Feature Image: Maison Hannon, 2023 | Photo by Grégory De Leeuw
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