La Canadiense employee and entrepreneur Eduard Batiste Massaguè (Barcelona 1883 -- Tossa 1968 ), worked at the Universal Exhibiton held on 1929, bought -- in 1920 -- an abandoned vineyard called the Pauma in Passeig de Mar Menuda, in Tossa de Mar, and decided to settle down , fascinated by the charm of the small village and its beautiful bay. In 1924 commissioned a project to build the house, to XIX century architect Fernando Tarragó. Construction ended in 1934 , using traditional Catalan architectural elements ( ceramic flooring in the main floor , fireplaces and balustrades are very likely to Butsems & Co. : Suppliers of the Royal House , designs by Gaudí , Jujol, Puig , Domenech i Montaner, Rafael Maso ... ), pilasters , cornices , eaves, arches ... are typical of this type of architecture that honored the Catalan coast. It is perfectly oriented: is illuminated by the morning and evening sunlight , natural light creates a good sense of space , it was an architecture tailored to the individual, with a good space distribution (especially on the main floor ) , it is a decent and simple building , built with good materials and to provide space and livability ... the inimitable charm of the unique.
Pines were planted in the wasteland of the old vineyard, the staircase and the house are perfectly integrated in the landscape ( on aerial photographs are virtually invisible , hidden by the foliage of pines ). The pavement outside ( terrace and stair access to the main house ) follows the traditional model of Tossa ( in Vila Vella, for example) with beach pebbles.
During the 1930s ( the ' golden years ' ) , Tossa was a magnet for European artists and intellectuals (Georges Kars, Jean Metzinger , Oscar Zügel , etc) , fleeing the turbulent political situation of the time, sought refuge in the small fishing village. Oscar Zügel in his first exile, for which he found refuge from 1934 to 1936 in Spanish Tossa de Mar, he painted his fate picture whose title changed several times. Painters and Catalan intellectuals joined the group , staying in Tossa during the 1940s ( Rafael Benet and his sons and Jordi Martí , his niece Maria Girona, Albert Rafols -- Casamada , Lola Bech , the brothers Ainaud Lasarte , F. -P . Verrié ... ).
The Pauma was closely linked to the Tossa cultural / artistic / social environment during the 1930s and 1940s.
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