Maison Hannon is Brussels' newest Art Nouveau treasure, freshly restored and opened as a museum in Saint-Gilles. Designed in 1902 by Jules Brunfaut for the Hannon couple — he a Solvay engineer, she a botany enthusiast — it's a true Gesamtkunstwerk where every detail from door handles to stained glass was conceived as part of a unified whole. The ground-floor rooms with their original decor are the showstoppers, but the upstairs story of near-loss and painstaking rescue gives the visit emotional weight.
A 1902 Art Nouveau Gesamtkunstwerk with theatrical stained glass, rescued from demolition and meticulously restored into Brussels' most stirring new museum.
Book ahead, especially on weekends — and study the asymmetrical corner facade with its Victor Rousseau bas-relief from the sidewalk before going in.
Brussels' Newest Art Nouveau Masterpiece
Maison Hannon is the kind of place that makes you reconsider what you know about Brussels' Art Nouveau heritage. Designed in 1902 by Jules Brunfaut for the Hannon couple — Édouard, a Solvay engineer fascinated by new technologies, and Marie, a botany enthusiast — the house is a true Gesamtkunstwerk where every detail, from the door handles to the stained glass, was conceived as part of a unified whole. The ground-floor rooms are the stars of the show: they're the only ones to have kept their original decor, and the bow window on the rue de la Jonction side features stunning stained glass that filters light into the grand salon in a way that feels almost theatrical. The corner facade, with its asymmetrical design and bas-relief by Victor Rousseau, is worth studying from the sidewalk before you even go in.
Upstairs, the narrative shifts from aesthetics to history. The first floor walks you through the building's turbulent life — its abandonment, the threat of demolition, and the long, painstaking restoration that eventually brought it back to life as a museum. It's a story that resonates in a city where too many Art Nouveau gems have been lost. The recently restored greenhouse (serre), visible from the grand salon, is a particularly lovely detail. The only real complaint from visitors is that only the ground floor retains its original furnishings — the upper floors are more interpretive than immersive. But at 4.5 stars across 845+ Google reviews, the consensus is clear: this is a splendide maison art nouveau worth your time. Book ahead, especially on weekends, and pair it with a walk through nearby Saint-Gilles to see more of Brussels' architectural fabric.