Cauchie House

Belgium

Cauchie House (French: Maison Cauchie, Dutch: Cauchiehuis) is a townhouse in BrusselsBelgium. It was built in 1905 by Art Nouveau architect, painter, and designer Paul Cauchie, in Etterbeek, next to the Cinquantenaire Park. Its facade is remarkable for its allegorical sgraffiti.

At the very centre of the facade, Cauchie drew the words “Par Nous — Pour Nous” (English: By Us — For Us). The house was designed, from the very beginning, as a joint work intended for private use. Cauchie did the drawings for the house but worked together with his wife to design and decorate their home-workshop. Cauchie and his wife filled the house with their multiple works of art (paintings, wall coverings, furniture, etc.)

Cauchie House is a good example of the application of the principle of “total art” in architecture. Cauchie and his wife wanted that the distinction between the main art forms (architecture, painting, sculpture) and the minor art forms (decorative arts) disappeared to become part of the global œuvre.

The basement, containing the cellars and Paul Cauchie’s workshop, has been converted into a vast gallery, exhibiting photos, paintings, and archive documents, meticulously collected over the years by the Maison Cauchie ASBL. They illustrate the stages of the house restoration and the artistic activities of Paul and Lina Cauchie. The ground floor freed of the unfortunate alteration carried out by the successive occupants after Paul’s death has recovered its original appearance. The two upper floors of the house have been converted into apartments and renovated in accordance with contemporary needs.

Contact

Cauchie House
email
info@cauchie.be
address
5 rue des Francs, 1040 Brussels | Belgium
phone
+32(0)2 733 86 84