The Villa Mayfair: a modernist mansion hidden in the middle of Via Augusta

Some tall black fences protect Enric Sagnier's mansion from the noise of the outside world. The Barcelona of 1910 holds its last breaths behind the doors of Villa Mayfair, trying to disguise the passage of time like someone trying to hold their breath underwater knowing that, sooner or later, they will need to return to the surface and take air.

From the outside, the mansion does not look like a modernist palace. On the contrary, it looks like a modern building. The fences rise imposingly with straight and squared lines. Behind them, Sagnier's work, one of the most prolific architects of the Catalan capital, who built buildings such as the Palau de la Justicia or the Expiatory Temple of Tibidabo, can be glimpsed. In Villa Mayfair, modernism against modernity is conjured, it is almost poetic.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Josep Bertrand i Salsas, a renowned industrialist of the city who donated the lands of Turó Park ---which is why the street parallel to Johann Sebastian Bach bears his name--- commissioned Sagnier to build a family residence for his daughter, recently married to Bernard Cinnamond, originally from a wealthy English home. Hence the name Villa Mayfair. Some time later, the City Council would catalog the building as an urban asset of the city.

The heiress of the mansion on Vía Augusta, Beatriz Cinnamond Bertrand (granddaughter of Josep Bertrand) lived in the house until 2015. Then, she sold it to Cristina Rodríguez, a Catalan interior designer who, after three years of work ---and with covid in between--- has rehabilitated it and given it a new life. Of that Barcelona of 1910, the facade and the original decorative elements of the interior remain, which have been restored.

In the design, construction, and fine-tuning of the new mansion, more than a hundred luxury brands have participated, which, in a kind of collaborative exchange, have worked from their respective areas in exchange for displaying their products in the building, which today functions as a showroom. La Cornué has made a custom kitchen, Wever & Ducré has provided part of the lighting, Lefroy Brux has taken care of the bathrooms, and Ramiro Sobral is one of the artists who have left their mark on the house throughout its three floors. In the rehabilitation work, a second building annexed to the Villa has also been built, which functions as the main entrance and connects to the mansion by stairs.

The Creation House, the name with which Cristina Rodríguez has rebaptized the mansion, began to fully function as a meeting point for brands and artists this year. In fact, Audi has been one of the first entities to organize an event. It was last April, with the presentation of the e-tron GT model. Rodríguez hopes that in the near future, and with permission from covid, more events will be held. Those curious to know the house will have to wait to receive an invitation to visit it, as entry is not freely accessible. Otherwise, the Villa is rented by spaces, although there is also the option to rent it entirely.

That house from the early 20th century still retains part of its essence. There is something magical, special, mystical about it. Although, apparently, there is hardly any trace left of the Cinnamond family or their era within its walls. "I didn't want to do something grotesque," explains the interior designer. Once you cross the main door, if you close your eyes, you are back in 21st-century Barcelona.