A place of my own: An artist's home

Sara Bossaert and George Cowdery have lived in this apartment for over two decades. George is a freelance computer-tech from New York and now considers Barcelona as home. Sara, originally from Ghent, Belgium, is a freelance architect and first came here to study before the Olympics when the city’s architecture scene was booming. The couple met at a social function at the North American Institute in the early nineties, and share their two-bedroom home with their 14 year-old daughter.  

Situated in the heart of the Born, which George remembers as “never being that trendy”, this open-plan loft was the working studio of Catalan painter Joan Miró between 1917 and 1919.

On the floor lay the original floorboards that would have once been splattered with paint by the great artist. And, in fact, the general shape of the space hasn’t changed since Miró’s days and can still be easily recognised from certain illustrations in books about the artist.

The apartment still exudes artistic temperament. The space is warm and charismatic, decoratively cluttered with interesting items, from retro Apple Macs (in abundance), to part of a stained-glass window from the Palau de la Música. The home reflects the owners’ artistic flair. The walls of the lounge are painted in striking red and yellow, and a heavy duty set of scales retrieved from the streets now serve as a telephone seat.

George first moved into this apartment in 1987. He remembers the area as a very different Born to the one we know now. “The place was pretty empty, and actually full of junkies. Being here now, the area has become so trendy, but you can’t beat the location, it’s close to everything,” he says.

The couple have a second home in Sant Quirze de Besora, 100km north of Barcelona, which they stay in every other week to escape the noise of the city. However, there’s no place like home, and this international family love passing their days in this little piece of Barcelona history.