52. Hôtel Cohn-Donnay – De Ultieme Hallucinatie

In 1904, Paul Hamesse, a former colleague of Paul Hankar, transformed the residence on Rue Royale into an Art Nouveau gem for his wealthy clients, the owners of the famous Cohn-Donnay department store.

It features an imposing bow window, drawing rooms designed as a harmonious whole, an extension and a winter garden illuminated by stained-glass windows and decorated with mosaics in geometric patterns. The interior reveals a coherent and refined world, symbolic of Art Nouveau blended with influences from the Vienna Secession and Mackintosh. These spaces are now counted amongst the finest examples of his work.

Unlike most Art Nouveau buildings in Brussels, this is a renovation project, so it also retains numerous traces of its previous owners, such as the music pavilion belonging to the famous Marie Pleyel.