Barcelona · ES

Casa Bonet

At Passeig de Gràcia 39 stands Casa Josefina Bonet, the calm, classicist counterpoint to the riotous Modernista masterpieces that crowd Barcelona's famous Block of Discord. Built in 1887 and given its elegant new face in 1915 by architect Marcel·lí Coquillat, it sets a sober Italianate façade—with a columned central bay and neo-Baroque flourishes—amid the rival glories of Casa Batlló, Casa Lleó i Morera and Casa Amatller. Easy to overlook, but worth a deliberate pause. The building's best-kept secret lies at street level: behind the century-old Perfumería Regia shopfront hides the Museu del Perfum, one of the city's most charming small museums, where a back-room collection of more than 5,000 fragrance vessels traces the history of scent from ancient Egypt to Salvador Dalí. Casa Bonet may be the least flashy house on the block, but it is very probably the most aromatic.