Can Fatxó

Can Fatxó is a Catalan Art Nouveau townhouse in Tiana, a small town in Barcelona province on the Maresme coast. Standing on the steep carrer de Sant Josep, at numbers 5-7, it is listed on Catalonia's architectural heritage inventory (Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya) under record number 9162.

What is Can Fatxó known as?

The building goes by more than one name in local and heritage records — alongside Can Fatxó, you'll also find it referred to as Can Fatjó or Can Jordi Such. Its design is credited to Ramon Maria Riudor i Capella, an architect working in the Catalan modernista tradition around the turn of the 20th century.

What does the building look like?

Can Fatxó is a compact showcase of Catalan Art Nouveau: a ground floor and main floor topped by a taller central volume from which a slim, tapering tower rises. Curved, flowing lines run through the whole facade — around the window frames, along the roofline, and up the tower — with barely a straight edge in sight; concave and convex shapes dominate instead.

The tower is the building's signature feature. Conceived as a lantern to bring extra light into the interior, it carries stained-glass panels in colour and a wavy overhanging eave held up on wrought-iron brackets. Floral garland motifs add further decorative detail across the facade.

A large garden wraps around the house, screened from the street by a timber lattice fence, and a pergola stands within the grounds. The whole layout responds to the slope of the street, with the architect working the building's levels into the natural incline of the plot rather than against it.

What was Can Fatxó built for?

The property is classified as a single-family residence of the upper-middle-class type known in Catalan heritage listings as a "casa senyorial" — a genteel townhouse rather than a public building. It remains privately owned today, so visits are limited to viewing the facade and garden from the street.

Why is Can Fatxó protected as heritage?

Can Fatxó holds the status of "Bé Integrant del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya," meaning it is formally recognised as part of Catalonia's architectural heritage. The protection reflects the artistic quality of its facade and tower — the building stands as one of the more distinctive modernista landmarks surviving in the smaller towns of the Maresme, a coastal region best known for the summer residences wealthy Barcelona families built there around the turn of the 20th century.

Tiana sits close to Barcelona and to other Maresme towns such as Alella and Badalona, and its modernista buildings, Can Fatxó included, are sometimes taken in as part of longer day trips through the region's Art Nouveau architecture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Can Fatxó located? It stands in Tiana, in Barcelona province, at carrer de Sant Josep 5-7.

Can you visit the inside of Can Fatxó? No — it is a private residence, and can only be viewed from the street and garden side.

Who designed Can Fatxó? The building is attributed to architect Ramon Maria Riudor i Capella, associated with the Catalan modernista movement.

Does Can Fatxó have other names? Yes, it is also known as Can Fatjó or Can Jordi Such, depending on the source.