Following the established custom of the time, the Sagnier and Villavecchia families had summer residences, in Sant Gervasi, around a garden that has fortunately been preserved, in an area at the foot of the mountain of Tibidabo, that did not become part of Barcelona until 1897. Enric Sagnier had already carried out some refurbishments on the villa belonging to Lluís Sagnier Nadal, but in 1900 his father asked him to demolish it and substitute it with a new edifice. The result was a cuboidal structure with side wings, decorated with sober neo-Gothic details (notably the gargoyles that project a great distance from the facade). According to contemporary documentation, there was a cave on the site with a freshwater spring. The architect included as many as twelve rooms, a private chapel and a play-room that delighted the aged owner’s grandchildren: the garden was a regular gathering place for the whole family and in it a track was laid for a miniature steam train. It was the architect’s youngest son, Ignasi, who built the steam train in a workshop set up in the house.