Town Mansion, Belgium

Town Mansion is a large and historically interesting abandoned house in one of Belgium largest cities. Town Mansion was built in 1912 by one of Belgium’s more prominent petroleum importers.  At the turn of the 20th Century, this particular street was a wealthy area where German families resided in huge mansions and town houses. During the First World War this area was targeted by bombing raids. These raids destroyed all but two of the original German-built mansions. It was later owned by a Belgium shipbuilder after the war. Subsequently, the house was used by the government in the 1960s when it was used as office space. The property was abandoned in the early 1990s, and acquired by a real estate trader for €600,000.

The ground floor is very grand; twisted wooden columns lead up to high ceilings, with ornate decorated panelling and carvings on the beams. The main entrance hall features large double doors, with beautiful green stained glass and stone busts at the side. Paintings still hang above fireplaces, and a rocking horse sits in a shadow-obscured corner.

The house features many decorative items; taxidermy animals, dolls, toy soldiers, model planes and teddy bears. The house still partly has electricity, and as the storm hit the failing natural light combined with the flickering lamplight added to the atmosphere of Town Mansion. Despite the age of the house, there is no visible decay. The soft light was quite spectacular but necessitated very long exposures to get good photographs. This mansion is truly huge, with several large bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms upstairs. I took many more photos during our visit, and I am sure I will re-visit and edit in the future.

Our visit to Town Mansion

We arrived late in the afternoon, skies dark and humidity high. It was clear that a storm was brewing. We waited outside the main gate, and were eventually greeted by the caretaker. We spent several hours exploring and photographing this stunning mansion. During this trip we also visited the spectacular Chateau VP, which represents a very different style of French chateau.