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This Belgian country house would have blown the Great Gatsby’s mind

Tucked away on the outskirts of Brussels is this charming country house named ‘La Bastide’, built in 1913 as the family home for famed Art Noveau architect Victor Horta. But it was one of his peers that turned it into a miracle chamber of Art Deco later in its life…

Horta certainly picked an appropriate setting for his self-designed home: it’s located within a 3-hectare park overlooking Lake Genval, which is a half-an-hour drive from the Brussels town centre. After playing home to Horta and his wife, the house was bought by a family who, in 1940, commissioned another esteemed architect, Raoul Béguin, to update the house with an Art Deco aura. Current owner, musician Mischa Maïsky, has overseen its sympathetic evolution, and it can now be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market via high-end real estate specialist Emile Garcin for 4.5m euros, including the ‘La Conciergerie’ caretaker’s house. Considering the property’s fascinating history and grandiose furnishings, that’s a rather modest price to pay for a piece of Art Deco-infused real estate history.

Photos: Emile Garcin