Expansion and subsequent evolution
In 1899, Manuel Vicens' widow, Dolors Giralt i Grífol, sold the house to Dr. Antonio Jover Puig for 45,000 pesetas.[42] Antonio Jover (Barcelona, 1855-1930) was a renowned pediatrician, graduated from the University of Barcelona in 1876. Installed in Cuba, he was a professor at the University of Havana, until the island's independence. when he returned to Spain. Thanks to the fortune he had made overseas, like other Indians of the time, he was able to acquire the Casa Vicens. He represented various Spanish commercial interests in Cuba and, even after its independence, spent several seasons on the island. He was also president of the Spanish Casino of Havana and the Cercle Català. Established definitively in Barcelona in 1924, he was a councilor of the Barcelona City Council from 1924 to 1930 and deputy mayor with the Baron de Viver.[43] In 1908, Dr. Jover sold the house to his brother, José Jover, reserving the right of usufruct; He died without issue in 1913, leaving it to Ángela González Sánchez, Antonio Jover's wife.[44].
In 1925, Dr. Jover planned an extension of the building with the aim of turning it into a primary residence. To do this, he acquired a land adjacent to the party wall with the convent, in , corresponding to numbers 18-20 of Carolinas Street.[45] He also acquired the land located between the Rincón de San Gervasio alley and the Riera de Cassoles avenue, and managed to have the alley declared surplus to public roads, so he was able to expand the garden throughout that area.[46] By then the property reached its maximum extension, of .[47] In order to expand the house, he approached Gaudí to take charge of the project, but he refused, since at that time he was dedicating his time completely to the Sagrada Familia. Instead, he recommended one of his disciples, Joan Baptista Serra, who designed the right half of the façade following Gaudí's style.[48]
Joan Baptista Serra de Martínez (Barcelona, 1888-1962) studied at the Barcelona School of Architecture, where he graduated in 1914. That same year he met Gaudí in the church of Saints Justo y Pastor, where they were united by their love of music. Of eclectic style "Eclecticism (art)"), it was influenced by both modernism and noucentisme, classicism and modern European architecture. One of his first works was the Cucuruy house in Barcelona, which was followed by his own house, Villa Mercedes, on Escoles Pies street; the house of Eduard Schäfer, on Copernicus Street; and the Valentí Soler house, on Vía Layetana, among others. He was the municipal architect of Moncada and Reixach, Ripollet, Begas, Molins de Rey and San Feliu de Codinas, where he carried out various works, such as the Ripollet Market, the Begas urbanization, a school group and a sanitation and paving project in Molins de Rey, and the churches of Santa Engracia and the Sacred Heart of Moncada and Reixach.[49].
Serra built the right half of the building - seen from Carolina Street -, noticeable because its volume protrudes a little towards the street compared to the part built by Gaudí. The division is also noticeable in the different design of the tiles, since Gaudí alternated them to give greater dynamism, while Serra arranged them uniformly. The expansion lasted between 1925 and 1927.[9].
The extension was carried out on the side where the party wall with the old convent was located, with which a new façade emerged and the building was left to the four winds.[50] On the corner of the street, Serra arranged a tower in the shape of a temple equal to the one Gaudí placed at its opposite end.[51] The new remodeling involved converting a single-family house into three independent homes, one per floor. To this end, the original staircase designed by Gaudí was replaced with another according to its new purpose.[52].
Another action was carried out in the gallery, where the wooden lattices were replaced by glass that completely closed the space, thus losing the original idea of a space that connected directly to the garden.[53] The water fountain, one of the most evocative elements of the Gaudinian project, was also eliminated.[32].
On the southwest side, when the alley disappeared, the perimeter wall had to be demolished, which was replaced by new sections of the palmetto fence. He respected the waterfall that was attached to the wall, which remained as a free-standing construction, for which he opened the parabolic arch on the opposite side; Instead, the rockery at the base was lost and a pool was placed in its place. Part of the waterfall structure was also covered with tiles, imitating those of the house.[32].
He also built a small temple at the end of the garden that faced the Riera de Cassoles avenue, which housed the old Santa Rita fountain. Circular in plan, it was covered in yellow tiles and had a hemispherical dome, covered in tiles and topped with a lantern "Lantern (architecture)") with a cross on top. Demolished in 1963, the old gardens are currently occupied by residential buildings.[32].
Calle de las Carolinas was widened in 1925, bringing the house to street level. For this reason, the entrance door was moved to the southwest façade, where the gallery is located, in the place previously occupied by a window in the lobby, and a terrace with stairs was built for access. For its part, the old portal was converted into a double window with wrought iron bars.[54] A secondary door for the service that was next to the party wall of the convent - currently a window - also disappeared, as well as a terrace located above this entrance that led to one of the bedrooms on the second floor, replaced by a balcony.[55] The main street entrance was moved a little to the left and was crowned with two street lamps made by the forger Bonaventura Batlle. A secondary entrance was placed on the corner of Carolinas Street and Riera de Cassoles Avenue, identical to the main one.[56] The viewing point on the corner that overlooked the Rincón de San Gervasio alley was maintained, although, when it disappeared, it remained as an element of the wall. Finally, the fountain at the entrance was eliminated, which was located in the portion that disappeared from the southeast side when San Gervasio Street was widened.[34].
Inside, Serra's intervention was more restrained than outside, using the new construction materials of the time, such as the use of iron joists with ceramic vault interbeams on the ceilings. He replaced the old staircase designed by Gaudí with an interior patio that provided light to the adjoining rooms, and placed a new staircase in the expanded part. The basement lost a room due to the widening of the street, although it gained another under the new terrace that was located at the main entrance. The interior finishes of the expanded part were simpler than those of the Gaudinian project, based essentially on mosaic floors, plastered and painted walls, and plaster ceilings with perimeter moldings. The bathrooms were tiled with tiles of Andalusian origin with flowers and a pomegranate in the center.[56].
In 1927, the Barcelona City Council awarded Casa Vicens the Prize for Best Building "Annual Competition for Artistic Buildings (Barcelona)"), by virtue of the reform and extension carried out by Joan Baptista Serra, although, in a secondary way, Gaudí's work was recognized.[27] The prize, of 1000 pesetas, was awarded on March 5, 1929.[57] Gaudí had won this prize in 1900 for the Calvet house, one of his most conservative works.[58].
The building underwent a new expansion in 1935, when the architect Francisco Víctor Ortenbach Bertrán was commissioned to add a new body on the ground floor, on the side of the west façade.[59].
In 1946, part of the garden was sold for the construction of homes, which included the waterfall, which was demolished, as well as the old viewpoint.[note 6] The portion of the garden that included the chapel of Santa Rita was separated from the rest.[59].
In 1962, Dr. Jover's widow, Ángela González Sánchez, died, leaving her children Antonio, Gaspar, María de la Paloma and Fabiola as heirs. After the distribution of her assets, Casa Vicens fell to Fabiola,[60] married to the gynecologist Antonio Herrero López (Zaragoza, 1914–Barcelona, 2004), who had consultations in the same Casa Vicens.[43] The following year, another part of the garden was sold for the construction of homes and the chapel of Santa Rita was demolished.[61] Most of the fence was dismantled. of palm heart, some of whose portions were later placed in various points of Park Güell.[62] The property was then left with its current size and the architect Antonio Pineda Gualba was commissioned to reform the basement and the ground floor, carried out in 1964.[63] An entrance to the basement was then opened from the street level, under the staircase of the main door.[64].
The house was restored in 1997 with a project by Ignacio Herrero, a member of the owner family, an architect by profession. The intervention was preferably carried out on the facades and the roof.[65].
In 2001, upon Fabiola's death, the inheritance passed to her children Antonio, Ignacio, Carlos María and Javier Herrero Jover.[66].