Noisette
Master Guide
Reged: 01/14/06
Posts: 5892
Loc: Belgium
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One of my favourite parks in Brussels 
 
Alfred Solvay, brother of Ernest Solvay bought the land in 1880 to escape from the city, and named it Vijverberg (vijver means pond, berg means hill). At the time it was in a green area far from the city, with a just few wealthy families living there.
Alfred had a house designed in Flemish neo-renaissance style, with an orchard, a vegetable garden and one of the first heated greenhouses in Europe. When he died in 1894 the park came under the management of his widow Marie Masson, and the estate was extended considerably, the family buying surrounding land to distance themselves from the road building that was then going on and building large townhouses for friends and family. In 1905 the house was renovated to make it look more like a castle, and the park was refurbished.
Alfred and Marie's daughter Thérèse married a member of the Tournay family. Marie died in 1917, and in 1921 the estate was divided and the house at Vijverberg came to Thérèse Tournay-Solvay, whose name the park still bears. The area around the park was absorbed into Brussels and underwent tremendous changes with glass and concrete buildings springing up, but Thérèse continued to live in the chateau (installing a lift in 1957!) until her death in 1972. The park was then sold to property developers who planned to build a large office complex on the land. This project met with fierce opposition from local residents and politicians, and in 1980 the area was bought by the the state and was opened to public as a park in 1981. In 1982 the chateau was almost burned down when squatters lit fires on the parquet flooring.
The rest of the park has been renovated:
The old stables are occupied by Centre Régional d'Initiation à l'Ecologie Tournesol, an ecological organisation which organises activities for children and adults.
The White Villa, previously used as a guest house for friends of the family, is occupied by the Espace européenne pour la Sculpture which organises regular exhibitions in the park by an artist from the country which holds the presidency of the European Union. This presidency changes every six months.
However, due the high cost of renovation, the chateau still remains a ruin, various projects have been suggested, but none have yet come to fruition and the house has been taken over by plants and wildlife.
 
Parcs et jardins de la région Bruxelles Capitale
Parken en Tuinen in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
Articles from brusselniews.be:
Part 1 | English translation
Part 2 | English translation
Part 3 | English translation
RTBF | English translation
  
Edited by Noisette (06/19/08 01:10 PM)
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diane9247
World Explorer
Reged: 01/15/07
Posts: 1605
Loc: Californian stranded in Oregon
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Noisette - What a serene and lovely park! It's too bad about the deterioration of the chateau, seems a shame to let it crumble away like that. At least the wildlife can live in style until the gov't comes up with an affordable restoration plan!
Diane 
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Noisette
Master Guide
Reged: 01/14/06
Posts: 5892
Loc: Belgium
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Thank you for your comments Diane. I think I like this park because, despite its relatively small size, there are several completely different parts to it; and the ruins do have a certain romantic air to them!
Whether anything will ever be done to renovate the castle I don't know. It's interesting that another house and garden in Brussels owned by somebody who died around the same time as Thérèse have been turned into a beautiful museum thanks to the owners' foresight, while this has been let go. I do intend to placemark the other one too - you may notice a garden theme developing here!
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