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The number of Casa Francesc Simón i Feu refers to the founder of the publishing house Montaner y Simón, together with his partner Ramón de Montaner i Vila, in 1861. It was the first building commissioned by the publisher to be built by the architect Josep Domènech i Estapà and inaugurated in 1912 at number 3 of Passeig de Gràcia next to the disappeared building of the Hotel Colón.
Francisco Simón, born in Mataró, son of a shoemaker father, on February 20, 1843, had started working as an apprentice when he was only 14 years old in the publishing house of Juan Aleu i Fugarull. which led him to get involved in the book publishing business from a young age.
Once the plot of land was acquired, Francesc Simón contacted the architect Josep Domènech i Estapà so that he could design a building with a basement, ground floor and four floors.
Two years later, Francesc Simón requested the services of Domènech i Estapà again, to carry out a renovation of the construction of the old building, adding some changes that would give it a category, which, according to him, the building did not have. The renovation was carried out by his son, Josep Domènech Mansana, since his older father had retired to his house in Cabrera de Mar, where he would die on September 5, 1917.
The renovation to be carried out in the original building by Domènech Mansana began with a spectacular change in the façade and in the floors already built. And taking advantage of the new municipal provisions, he rebuilt a plant.
On the main floor, to give the category that the architects then gave to that floor, the two central balconies were replaced by a glass gallery, highlighting the main one from the rest of the building.
On the three upper floors he began to build a glass gallery at the ends. This continued to increase the category of the construction, but differentiated it from the main floor.
On the fifth floor, which was the one with the comeback, Domènech Mansana carried out a spectacular job, since he created an attic in which he placed rounded outdoor terraces at the ends and in the center he designed a three-leaf window with an arched shape in The upper part was topped by a central mansard with a width of two balconies. After the death of Francesc Simón i Feu in 1923, the house became the residence of his brother-in-law Ramón Bach i Bobés, shareholder and manager of the Montaner y Simón publishing house.
In the Foto Ferrán fund of the National Archive of Catalonia there is a photograph taken by Artur Ferrán and his son Francesc Xavier Ferrán i Brugués in 1941. In the image you can see the companies that were then located in the building and that were advertised with some rudimentary cartouches on the balconies.
To the left of the photograph we see some missing lollipops, which reported on the events that were being held in the city, among which was the premiere of the film Raza at the Coliseum cinema. The film was released on Wednesday, January 14, 1942 and a day before, La Vanguardia published an advertisement informing attendees of the obligation to attend the premiere with strict etiquette.
Finally, on the same left side you can see the demolition of what for a few years was one of the most important hotels in the city, the Hotel Colón.
Currently, the building of the former House of Francesc Simón i Feu is occupied by the Qatari Consulate in Barcelona.
