The art deco house owned by David and Alice Van Buuren is one of the most poetic spots in Brussels. Hidden away in a quiet suburb, the brick house was designed in Amsterdam School style for a wealthy Dutch banker and his wife.
They furnished the interior in a luxurious modern style and built up an exceptional collection of paintings, including a work hanging in the staircase by the Flemish artist Gustave van de Woestijne showing six fair-haired Flemish children sitting down to lunch.
There is more to discover out in the garden where landscape gardeners Jules Buyssens and later René Pechère planted intimate spaces including a unique ‘Garden of Hearts’ commissioned by Alice after the death of her husband.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
