20. Campioni-Balasse Mansion

The Campioni-Balasse mansion was built around 1890 by the architect Georges Dhaeyer for Justice of the Peace Charles Campioni-Balasse on the corner of Chaussée d’Haecht and Rue de l’Est. Built barely three years before the neighbouring Maison Autrique (Victor Horta’s first design in Brussels), this Flemish Neo-Renaissance mansion thus illustrates the enduring attachment, at the turn of the century, of a certain Brussels social circle to historical styles. Its red-brick façade, featuring a corner loggia and stepped gables, blends Neo-Gothic and Flemish Neo-Renaissance elements. The interior of this private residence has been listed since 2004 as it has retained its original layout, floor plan and remarkable decorative features; all of which (painted coffered ceilings, fireplaces, wall frescoes, stained-glass windows, etc.) make this building a jewel of historicist architecture in Brussels.