Maison Hannon was built in 1902 and stands out as one of the remaining masterpieces of art nouveau in Brussels. it was designed by the architect Jules Brunfaut. The ten years leading up to its construction was a golden age of art nouveau in Brussels with the renowned Victor Horta building the Hôtel Tassel and Hôtel Winssinger in the 1890s, alongside his own house and atelier (which now serves as the Horta Museum). Jules Brunfaut was not initially au fait with the style but it was requested by his friends, the couple Marie and Édouard Hannon. Hannon was an engineer, painter, art critic and photographer who had a love of the art nouveau style popular at the time. Brunfaut was a Beaux-Arts architect deeply rooted in classical historic design. It would be interesting to know what Horta’s feelings on the building at the time as he was known to have held a certain level of frustration with architects who abruptly switched to the style. Whatever Horta’s feelings were, he became a close mentor to Jule’s nephew Maxime Brunfaut decades later. The house was occupied by the family until 1965 and was left abandoned, vandalised and potentially would be demolished. In 1976 Jule’s daughter managed to have the building exterior classified as a protected monument and the building was acquired by the municipality of Saint-Gilles. It was renovated and from 1988 Hôtel Hannon was used as a photographic gallery and also expositions and conferences. The finest features worth seeing on a visit are the beautiful wall frescoes painted by French artists Albert Baudouin, the stained glass windows by Raphaël Évaldre and the spiral staircase by master ironsmith Pierre Desmedt.  The building is absolutely fantastic and well worth a visit if in Brussels. 

Full disclosure, I only came across this site because coincidentally I share the same surname spelling (though mine is anglicised from the Irish ‘Ó hAnnáin’) and also the original owner being Édouard rather than my Edward, but you get the point! Unfortunately I am not of anywhere near the sufficient means to commission a similar project myself! Maison Hannon is well worth a visit as it serves as a beautiful gallery with exhibitions that seem to fit its dramatic backdrop.

GPS: 50.82089, 4.35213