5 Rue des Francs — 1040 Brussels
tel./fax : 32 (0)2 733 86 84
info@cauchie.be
The History of the House from 1952 to Date
Following Paul Cauchie’s death in 1952, Lina and her daughter Suzanne decided to carry out some restoration works in order to bring the house up to date, and in so doing removed several decorative elements which bore witness of Paul’s talents.
When Lina also passed away in 1969, Suzanne considered a property redevelopment project which would have resulted in the house being demolished. However, this project failed thanks to the intervention of Maurice Culot (Director of the Modern Architecture Archives), who in 1971 filed an application for the house to be listed. The house, which was finally listed in 1975, subsequently became neglected and fell into disrepair over the ensuing years.
Guy and Léona Dessicy, both keen Art Nouveau enthusiasts, then came across the house during a walk and found it in an indescribably dilapidated condition. They decided to save the house and started the laborious process that finally resulted in its purchase in 1980.
The new owners undertook restoration works lasting fifteen years. However, the intended use of setting up a Tintin museum, which was a project that had been approved by author Hergé, was later abandoned in favour of what was later to become the “Belgian Strip Cartoon Centre”, located in the former Waucquez stores designed by Victor Horta. However, an in-depth feasibility study had however been conducted in conjunction with the Hergé Studios and architects Jean-Jacques Boucau and Xavier de Pierpont. The preserved model built to scale by the Hergé Studios and the various sketches of scenography designed by Bob De Moor still bear witness to this aborted project.
Another use was then decided upon, and since 1994, the main rooms and the cellars, which were transformed into a gallery, are now open to the general public.