In the Catalonian city's very heart, a renovated Barcelona house is more than what meets the eye – with a history rooted in swashbuckling pirates who sailed the South American seas. Welcome to Casa el Pirata, a restored home which nods to its original architecture, inspired by Argentine palaces and rich pirate history.
Tour a historic pirate's home in this Barcelona house
In 1820, a pirate, called Antoni Cuyàs, was an eighteen-year-old from Mataró, Barcelona, who set sail for Argentina with just a basic knowledge of navigation. Swiftly, he became one of the most feared pirates among Brazilian ships, which, according to the documents of the time, rarely escaped Cuyàs’ cannon fire.
Having amassed a large fortune while young, he eventually abandoned life at sea and became a frequent advisor to the presidents of the era. He returned to Mataró in 1865 to live out his final years. Here, he purchased two houses and joined them together to form his personal home. Italian artists were commissioned to work on his residence, in a style that reminded him of the palaces he saw in Argentina.
In Mataró, and towards the end of his life, Cuyàs met an orphan boy who shared the same surname. With no heirs, he decided to adopt him. Now, following several generations of artists and writers, Cuyàs’ great-great-grandson, Manuel Cuyàs, together with his wife, Nuria, decided to renovate three rooms in the ancestral home, which still had the character of the pirate's original residence.
The couple worked with architect Raúl Sánchez to restore the entrance hall, the dining room, and the pirate’s room (which acts as a living room) – the last now listed by the heritage authorities. The architect wanted to make sure the rooms nodded to the past, while accommodating the needs of the present.
However, working with such a historical building, there were many challenges, as Sánchez explains: ‘Before our intervention, the rooms were full of pipes and wires from previous additions, and the house was also full of cracks.’ However, although amending serious issues, they decided to leave the smaller cracks in ceilings and walls alone, saying ‘there is no intention of injecting Botox.’
Finding solutions, the architect began to incorporate contemporary touches like a large stainless-steel plinth (an indispensable material for the pirate), which juxtaposes the layered wall colours, while also acting as a multi-functional furniture piece, containing a sofa area and storage, as well as carving a small working area.
Period paintings were restored, wallpaper preserved, and the original terracotta flooring was recovered and treated. ‘I love how seductive the stainless steel looks and how it contrasts with the explosion of colours of walls and ceilings,’ says the architect.
Modern-day needs, like electrical wiring, cooling systems and even a large television, are tucked away in intricate ways, such as a large mirrored cabinet, lined with a glossy yellow interior which hides the TV.
Says Sánchez:‘ I want visitors to feel the grandeur of the space, the additions over time, the adaptations we have done, but to feel that everything feels like a single space, a unitary work.’
These finer details allow the room to shine in its historic splendour, void of museum-like qualities, and coldness, but instead as a space that honours its past while accommodating the present.