A house straight out of a fairy tale. This is Maison Saint-Cyr in Brussels

Despite being a mere four metres wide, the plot did not prevent Gustave Strauven from creating one of the most stunning houses in Brussels. Maison Saint-Cyr impresses above all with its Art Nouveau, almost fairy-tale façade, its vibrant colour scheme, its intricate artistic metalwork and its interiors full of surprising details.

The Birth of the Maison Saint-Cyr Legend

Maison Saint-Cyr at 11 Square Ambiorix was designed by the architect Gustave Strauven for the painter Georges Léonard de Saint-Cyr. This building, now famous throughout the world, was completed in July 1903. It was an ‘hôtel particulier’ – a large, luxurious urban residence (a small palace or ornate townhouse). Contrary to its name, this was not a hotel, but a private home for the wealthy aristocracy. The plot on which the painter de Saint-Cyr wished to build his Brussels residence was merely four metres wide. Strauven therefore extended the house upwards and deeper into the plot. The four storeys are arranged around a staircase with a centrally positioned skylight. The architect departed from the typical layout of three rooms in a row, prioritising light, views and semi-open spaces.

Art Nouveau at its most decorative

The façade of the Maison Saint-Cyr is considered one of the most extravagant examples of Belgian Art Nouveau, sometimes described as ‘Art Nouveau baroque’. Here, Strauven combined white stone cladding, brick imported all the way from Silesia, steel, wrought iron, oak, glass and slate. The original colour palette was exceptionally vivid: white and red were complemented by light green metal, lacquered oak and purple glass. Balustrades, corbels and brackets formed a dense network of plant motifs, and each balcony has its own unique design. Above the topmost loggia, a large ‘bull’s eye’ appears, with slate and a metal crown above it. The whole structure is crowned by an openwork wrought-iron finial. The fencing, added later, also echoes the richly varied rhythm of the façade.

Maison Saint-Cyr as Strauven’s life’s work

Gustave Strauven experimented with materials and fittings in his work. In 1900, he patented glass in the form of a brick and used a similar material at Maison Saint-Cyr. The original ‘monte-plats’ – a lift for transporting dishes between the underground kitchen and the dining room – has also been preserved. In 1909, the architect patented his own model of such a device. The interiors of the house at 11 Square Ambiorix draw heavily on Art Nouveau, Flemish Neo-Renaissance, Classicism, Louis XVI and Empire styles, and later also from chinoiserie and Art Deco, as in the 1920s the former drawing room was converted into a Chinese-style salon, and in the 1930s the master bedroom was partially remodelled in the Art Deco style.

Discoveries during the restoration of the historic building

Research carried out in the building revealed that the interiors were originally much more colourful than they are today. The hall was dominated by green and mahogany brown, whilst in the dining room, green glazed wood was combined with brick and light-coloured surfaces. Later trends softened this colour palette: in the 1920s, creams and pinks appeared, and in the 1950s, beiges were added. During one of the building’s most recent renovations, a green, glazed fireplace with Delft tiles and glazed panelling was discovered. Also preserved are embossed wallpaper with a metallic pattern, as well as white and turquoise tiles, ceramics, stucco, granite floors and stained-glass windows featuring the Saint-Cyr family coat of arms.

An exceptionally striking example of flamboyant Art Nouveau

Georges Léonard de Saint-Cyr lived at his estate for just six years, until 1909. It was subsequently taken over by the Leurs family, who remained associated with the house until 1954. In the years that followed, the property was fitted with electricity, running water and a telephone, whilst the interiors were altered in line with current fashions. In 1988, the building was listed as a priceless historic monument. The most recent comprehensive restoration of the house took place between 2008 and 2019. First, the façade was stabilised; subsequently, Francis Metzger’s MA² studio renovated the interiors, the roofs, the rear façade and the grounds. Conservators drew on archives, measurements and stratigraphic studies. As part of the work, the stained-glass windows were restored, the stucco work was repaired, and the original bathroom tiles were reused in the kitchen. All decorative elements were uncovered by hand to avoid damaging any of the delicate features. In 2019, the result of this work received a special jury prize at the AADIPA European Prize for Architectural Heritage Intervention.

The Legacy of Maison Saint-Cyr

Today, Maison Saint-Cyr is the most famous work by Gustave Strauven, who died in 1919 at the age of 41. The façade on Square Ambiorix is a strikingly vivid example of flamboyant Art Nouveau – the most expressive, decorative and exuberant variant of the Art Nouveau style, characterised by flowing, ‘flaming’ lines. The four-metre-wide plot initially seemed too narrow to build anything striking on, yet the architect’s superb craftsmanship and boundless imagination resulted in a house featuring fanciful balconies and loggias finished with wrought iron, glass in various shapes and colours, and a truly artistic arrangement of coloured bricks and elements carved from stone. As a result, the property on Square Ambiorix in Brussels looks more like a house from a fairy tale than an ordinary city tenement.

Source: monument.heritage.brussels, ma2.be

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