Description
This villa was Henry Van de Velde’s first architectural work. It was both his personal residence and his studio. It is situated between two streets on a large wooded, sloping plot of land. The house is set in the middle of a garden designed by Van de Velde’s wife, Maria Sèthe. The building features an irregular pentagonal plan on two levels. It is organised around a central skylight that serves all the rooms, sometimes through little hallways for the more private rooms. The house is organised along a slightly oblique axis leading from the entrance to the studio.
To its right is a dining room and the kitchen areas, while to its left are two bedrooms and a bathroom. The studio is the largest room of the house, with a ceiling that reaches to the roof. The first floor is organised around a gallery surrounding the skylight which serves four bedrooms. Every space is decorated with colourful wallpaper and integrated furniture. The villa’s façade evokes an English cottage. Covered in white-rendered brick, it has three slatted gables with broken lines and a large canopy over the entrance door, which is preceded by a few steps and two sculpted lions. The latticed bays are fitted with wooden shutters.
Exterior view
Interior view
Originally published in: Gérald Ledent, Alessandro Porotto, Brussels Housing. Atlas of Residential Building Types, Birkhäuser, 2023.