1. The History
Not too much info around about this lovely rural chateau nicknamed “Château Rouge” (a.k.a. red Castle) and one derived from the red painted brick. It is situated below the Tihange Nuclear Power Station and is just on the outskirts of the Tihange Forest. One thing that is for certain, however, is that it was built in 1889 in a park of 7 hectares. The eclectic brick and limestone construction was erected for the Lattre family replacing a castle of the XVII century, destroyed after a fire. The original castle on this site was built around 1100 and was owned by a religious community. There were 12 clerics living in the castle. In 1760 one of the abbots spent more time in the castle than at the monastery and rebuilt it, spending more money than the monastery could afford. In 1768 the Prince-Bishop cancelled the authority of the abbot allowing him a pension of 1500 florins so he could stay at the castle. Just before the French revolution in 1768, the castle was then sold to the Abbey Saint Laurent. Over the next few years several families bought the castle, but over the years the buildings fell more and more into decay. In 1885 the castle was demolished and a new castle was built on the same site. Some of the old walls and two of the original fireplaces were saved and used in the newly built castle. In 1891 the Flemish renaissance-styled castle was ready.
Having served as a family home for over half-a-century, it was then converted into a luxury hotel after World War II. In 1997, Madame Edithe Van den Troost had become the owner and was running the place as an 18-bedroom guest house. See the old website:HERE for an insight into what this place used to look like. Apparently at some point subsequently it then became a retirement home for the elderly. It was closed in 2009 for financial reasons and has been empty since. It has gone down hill rapidly over the last few years and now is little more than a shell inside. The grounds around the house are used for airsoft at weekends.
Archive pictures:
Chateau Rouge 02 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Chateau Rouge 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Chateau Rouge 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr
2. The Explore
With Chateau du Noisey’s demolition early last year and Chateau D’Ah gone too this was third choice for a bit of Belgium chateau action. When I first rocked up to this place it was crawling with airsofters in the grounds. Hence it was a complete no-go. Not to be beaten, I revisited early one weekday and I had the place to myself. Looking back at reports from several years ago it’s sad to see how far this place has gone downhill. Very few of the internal features remain and the interior is now in a very sad and sorry state. Never-the-less this place is worth the effort for the externals alone, hence I was glad I gave the place a second go.
3. The Pictures
The aptly-named chateau comes into view:
img6530 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6491 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Full frontal:
Red chateau 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6514 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The date stone:
img6528 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And round the side and back:
img6485 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6518 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The former kitchens area:
img6495 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6494 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6493 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6486 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Obligatory door of hinges:
img6498 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Inside, downstairs it is now a bit of a mess:
img6526 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Red chateau 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6527 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6525 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Not much left in the way of original features:
img6508 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6499 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6496 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Up-stairs and it doesn’t get much better:
img6507 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6506 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6504 by HughieDW, on Flickr
This spiral staircase is nice though:
img6503 by HughieDW, on Flickr
A couple of roof details:
img6521 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6490 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Next to it are some out-buildings used by the airsofters:
img6515 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6513 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Not too much info around about this lovely rural chateau nicknamed “Château Rouge” (a.k.a. red Castle) and one derived from the red painted brick. It is situated below the Tihange Nuclear Power Station and is just on the outskirts of the Tihange Forest. One thing that is for certain, however, is that it was built in 1889 in a park of 7 hectares. The eclectic brick and limestone construction was erected for the Lattre family replacing a castle of the XVII century, destroyed after a fire. The original castle on this site was built around 1100 and was owned by a religious community. There were 12 clerics living in the castle. In 1760 one of the abbots spent more time in the castle than at the monastery and rebuilt it, spending more money than the monastery could afford. In 1768 the Prince-Bishop cancelled the authority of the abbot allowing him a pension of 1500 florins so he could stay at the castle. Just before the French revolution in 1768, the castle was then sold to the Abbey Saint Laurent. Over the next few years several families bought the castle, but over the years the buildings fell more and more into decay. In 1885 the castle was demolished and a new castle was built on the same site. Some of the old walls and two of the original fireplaces were saved and used in the newly built castle. In 1891 the Flemish renaissance-styled castle was ready.
Having served as a family home for over half-a-century, it was then converted into a luxury hotel after World War II. In 1997, Madame Edithe Van den Troost had become the owner and was running the place as an 18-bedroom guest house. See the old website:HERE for an insight into what this place used to look like. Apparently at some point subsequently it then became a retirement home for the elderly. It was closed in 2009 for financial reasons and has been empty since. It has gone down hill rapidly over the last few years and now is little more than a shell inside. The grounds around the house are used for airsoft at weekends.
Archive pictures:
2. The Explore
With Chateau du Noisey’s demolition early last year and Chateau D’Ah gone too this was third choice for a bit of Belgium chateau action. When I first rocked up to this place it was crawling with airsofters in the grounds. Hence it was a complete no-go. Not to be beaten, I revisited early one weekday and I had the place to myself. Looking back at reports from several years ago it’s sad to see how far this place has gone downhill. Very few of the internal features remain and the interior is now in a very sad and sorry state. Never-the-less this place is worth the effort for the externals alone, hence I was glad I gave the place a second go.
3. The Pictures
The aptly-named chateau comes into view:
Full frontal:
The date stone:
And round the side and back:
The former kitchens area:
Obligatory door of hinges:
Inside, downstairs it is now a bit of a mess:
Not much left in the way of original features:
Up-stairs and it doesn’t get much better:
This spiral staircase is nice though:
A couple of roof details:
Next to it are some out-buildings used by the airsofters:
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