Can Patatetes

Can Patatetes, also known as Casa Millet, is a historic townhouse in El Masnou, a small seaside town in the Maresme comarca, just a few kilometers northeast of Barcelona. Standing on the central Plaça de Catalunya, it is one of the most recognizable examples of eclectic bourgeois architecture in the region.

How to get there?

El Masnou sits on the Maresme coast and is well connected to Barcelona by the Rodalies regional train network — the ride from central Barcelona takes roughly 20 to 25 minutes. From El Masnou station, Plaça de Catalunya and Can Patatetes are just a short walk through the town center. Drivers can reach the town via the C-32 coastal motorway, with parking available near the center.

What will you see?

The house was built in the 19th century to a design by Catalan architect Gaietà Buïgas i Monravà, best known for the Columbus Monument in Barcelona. The building reflects the eclectic style favored by families in Maresme who grew wealthy through maritime trade and colonial commerce, with interiors decorated in the Catalan modernista spirit.

The façade follows a symmetrical, three-axis layout: a centered entrance on the ground floor, three balconied windows with wrought-iron railings on the first floor, and three small openings on the attic level. The walls are decorated with sgraffito in floral and geometric motifs — a technique of scratching a design into layered plaster of different colors, widely used in Catalan architecture at the turn of the 20th century. An ornamental balustrade with pinnacles crowns the roofline, lending a lighter touch to the otherwise compact, rectangular structure.

Can Patatetes is a mid-terrace house with a ground floor, first floor, and attic. While the interior remains private and closed to visitors, the façade is fully visible from the square and forms one of the anchor points of El Masnou's historic center.

Why is this place worth seeing?

The building is listed on Catalonia's cultural heritage register as an Asset of Local Interest (BCIL) and appears in the Generalitat de Catalunya's heritage inventory. Legal protection has been in place since the early 1990s, under the local urban plan and Catalonia's 1993 heritage law. The house remains in private hands, is still used as a residence, and is reported to be in good condition.

For visitors, Can Patatetes offers a glimpse of how wealthy families along the Catalan coast lived and built during the era when Maresme's fortunes were tied to shipping and maritime trade. Details like the sgraffito plasterwork and wrought-iron balconies have rarely survived in such good condition elsewhere in the region.

When to visit?

Spring and early summer are the best times to explore El Masnou, when the weather is pleasant for walking through the town center and along the nearby seafront promenade. The town pairs well with a beach visit, so it's worth planning a stop that combines both. Outside the summer season, the pace is quieter, making it easier to take in the architectural details of the square without the crowds.

Frequently asked questions

What is Can Patatetes? It is a 19th-century eclectic-style townhouse, also known as Casa Millet, designed by architect Gaietà Buïgas i Monravà and located on Plaça de Catalunya in El Masnou.

Can you visit the inside of the building? No — the house remains privately owned and is still used as a residence, so only the façade facing the square can be viewed by visitors.

What are the building's most distinctive architectural features? A symmetrical three-axis façade, decorative sgraffito with floral and geometric motifs, wrought-iron balcony railings, and an ornamental pinnacled balustrade along the roofline.

Is the building protected as a heritage site? Yes, Can Patatetes is listed on Catalonia's register of assets of local cultural interest (BCIL) and in the Generalitat de Catalunya's heritage inventory, with protection in place since the 1990s.