Building
Main façade, Vers l'Art, 1, 1906, pl. 1.
© urban.brussels
Newel post (photo 2016).
Newel post (photo 2016).
© urban.brussels
View towards the vestibule (photo 2016).
View towards the vestibule (photo 2016).
© ARCHIstory
Stained-glass windows in the front door (photo 2016).
Stained-glass windows in the front door (photo 2016).
© C. Baert
Living room and dining room (photo 2017).
Living room and dining room (photo 2017).
© ARCHIstory
Oriel window in the first-floor front bedroom (photo 2017).
Oriel window in the first-floor front bedroom (photo 2017).
© ARCHIstory
First mezzanine landing (photo 2017).
First mezzanine landing (photo 2017).
With its entrance turret, ornate wrought iron, carved woodwork, scalloped eaves and stacked fireplaces, this villa overlooking Parc de Forest resembles something out of a fairy tale. It was designed by a young architect called Alphonse Boelens for a manufacturer of uniform buttons named Mr De Rooster.
Boelens designed not only the house with its three recessed façades, but also a driveway with gate and a picturesque garden wending its way up to Avenue Jupiter.
On the Avenue Besme side, the most striking opening was on the main floor, which featured a loggia accessed directly through a canopy-covered entrance, followed by the drawing room and dining room, and then a 'veranda' opening onto the terrace and garden. Upstairs there were five bedrooms, including two masters at the front, one above the other, both benefiting from a corner oriel, a terrace or balcony, and a bathroom in the turret. The servants' quarters were in the attic. A place for everyone, and everyone in their place!
Boelens combined a range of styles, blending Art Nouveau and picturesque on the façade, while inside the building, Art Nouveau circulation spaces connected a Louis XVI drawing room, Flemish neo-Renaissance dining room and Louis XV bedroom.
Divided into flats in the 1930s, the villa has recently benefited from a sympathetic renovation, converting it back into a single dwelling and restoring its original colours: white ironwork, oak woodwork, and green and gold sgraffito.
Nearby
By the same architect
Boelens designed not only the house with its three recessed façades, but also a driveway with gate and a picturesque garden wending its way up to Avenue Jupiter.
On the Avenue Besme side, the most striking opening was on the main floor, which featured a loggia accessed directly through a canopy-covered entrance, followed by the drawing room and dining room, and then a 'veranda' opening onto the terrace and garden. Upstairs there were five bedrooms, including two masters at the front, one above the other, both benefiting from a corner oriel, a terrace or balcony, and a bathroom in the turret. The servants' quarters were in the attic. A place for everyone, and everyone in their place!
Boelens combined a range of styles, blending Art Nouveau and picturesque on the façade, while inside the building, Art Nouveau circulation spaces connected a Louis XVI drawing room, Flemish neo-Renaissance dining room and Louis XV bedroom.
Divided into flats in the 1930s, the villa has recently benefited from a sympathetic renovation, converting it back into a single dwelling and restoring its original colours: white ironwork, oak woodwork, and green and gold sgraffito.
