Villa Servais
THE ABANDONED VILLA IN BELGIUM
The original owner of ‘Villa Servais’ was one of the best cellists of the 19th century, Adrien Servais. Architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer was the architect of this villa in Halle, Belgium. A unique building with a rich history.
In 1847, the impressive villa was built on behalf of cellist Adrien François Servais. It was partly used as a private residence and also became the meeting place for musicians and local music associations. The walls of this stately building buzzed with musicality and artists were frequent visitors. The ‘salle de musique’ on the ground floor occupied more than a quarter of the entire floor. Here, the composer and cellist invited the cream of the musical scene. The French-Polish sculptor Cyprien Godebski, who married Servais’ eldest daughter Sophie, carved the famous bas-reliefs on the facade in 1864.
Chopin
The family received regular musicians and artists such as Franz Liszt, Antonin Rubinstein and Berthold Damcke. Also, Polish composer Frédéric Chopin spent the night at the villa during one of his European tours. Chopin was well known for his virtuoso Nocturnes, Preludes, and Études.
In 1886, the family moved to Elsene and lawyer Albert Leemans and his family became the tenants of Villa Servais. From 1895, architect and widower Arthur Carlier lived there with his unmarried sister and housekeeper. He had an extension built on the left side and turned Villa Servais into a duplex. The concert hall and the large living room were also divided into smaller spaces. Four years later, Charles Louis Ceyssens, along with his wife and three children, moved into the second half of the villa. After both families left, Villa Servais became one residence again in 1920, and Victor Devleminck moved in. He likely commissioned the construction of the staircase with three steps and the two lions on the front of the building. During WWII, the Villa was occupied by German and later British soldiers.
Gendarme
In 1947, baker Marie Denayer-Cromphout purchased the house and had it renovated to accommodate nine families. Over the course of four years, the Villa would house around thirty families. From October 1951, the impressive building was exclusively used for gendarmes and their families. Until 1967, a total of around thirty gendarme families lived there. The residence was very basic at that time, with no heating in the bedrooms and no bathroom.
From September 1967 to June 1978, it served as an annex to the main school in Halle. Around 160 students spread across eight classes spent a nostalgic school time there. Between 1978 and 1980, the students from the fifth and sixth grade of the State Primary School ‘Zilverberk’ attended classes in the villa. Despite the limited comfort, many school children had a dreamy childhood in this unique building.
Since 1981, Villa Servais had been empty and was even threatened with demolition. In 1986, the building was officially protected as heritage.
Guesthouse
During my visit, the villa is in a bad state, only the facade and the beautiful frescoes in the hallway remind us of the rich history. I visited ‘Villa Chopin’ in 2011. De Poorter-Leschevin family bought the building in 2016 and had an extensive restoration file approved. Today, the building is partly a private residence, a guesthouse with eight luxurious rooms and a charming tearoom. Even the famous ‘salle de musique’ has been restored to its former glory.
