Château Calmeyn

En un regard

Le château en bref

Château Calmeyn, also known as Château Rey, overlooks the Grote Baan in Drogenbos, on the outskirts of Brussels, in the middle of a large park laid out on former wooded land. Built in 1853–1854 for the table linen manufacturer Henri-Joseph Rey, it was designed by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar, who gave it the look of an Italian villa: a U-shaped plan opening onto an atrium, an arcaded gallery on Tuscan columns in blue stone, balustrades, monumental vases and statues, and artificial rockwork on the east side. Rey, known for his social initiatives, greatly enlarged the estate through land purchases; on his death in 1870, the château passed to his daughter Flore, wife of Louis Calmeyn, and four generations of that family succeeded one another there, hence the current name. The commune acquired part of the estate in 1958, now occupied by the town hall, the function hall and the park. A rare, well-preserved example of a large middle-class residence from the mid-19th century, which has retained most of its interior decoration, it has been listed as a monument by the Flemish Region since 27 May 2015.