Pycke de ten Aerde Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Pycke de ten Aerde Castle, in Melle, probably occupies the former "Goes ter Heyen" or "te Cracyeneste", known from 1389, which became a country house in the 16th century. In 1655 it belonged to Arthur Huiscomb; from 1687 to the late 1770s it was owned by the Jesuits of Bruges, hence its nickname "Jezuïetenkasteel" (also Kasteel Versailles). At the beginning of the 19th century it passed to Victor van de Woestijne, then, in 1843, to Baron C. Pycke de ten Aerde. In 1842, Louis Minard extended the country house into an L-shaped, rectangular building of eight bays, under a slate hipped roof, with rendered façades painted white. Two rooms on the ground floor retain traces of the old castle, including a chapel with a ribbed vault and a ceiling from the late 18th century. The estate of about 8.5 hectares is enclosed by moats and a large oval pond, with a farm from the early 19th century, a horse shelter added around 1875, a walled kitchen garden and an ice house from around 1860.