An engineer who photographed light asked a friend to build him a house full of it — and Marie Debard, his wife, gave its rooms their French soul.
At a glance
The Maison Hannon — often called the Hôtel Hannon, though the couple built it as a family house, not a private hôtel — is a corner town house in the Saint-Gilles district of Brussels, built between 1903 and 1904 for Édouard Hannon and his wife Marie Debard. Its architect, Jules Brunfaut, was a friend of the family who had already designed the couple’s first home and built houses for the wider Hannon circle and other prominent members of the Solvay group, working as far afield as Italy; here they asked him for the Art Nouveau manner they loved. Hannon — an engineer with the Solvay chemical company and a dedicated photographer — wanted a house that belonged equally to Brussels and to Nancy, the two capitals of the style. Today it operates as a cultural venue.
Key facts
- Architect: Jules Brunfaut, architect of the Hannon family circle; this is his best-known Art Nouveau work
- Built: 1903–1904
- Client: Édouard Hannon, engineer and photographer, with Marie Debard, who led the design of the interiors
- Style: Art Nouveau
- Address: 1, avenue de la Jonction, Saint-Gilles, Brussels
- Materials: white brick, limestone, and blue stone
- Status: protected monument; now a cultural and exhibition venue
History
Édouard Hannon was an engineer with Solvay and long managed the company’s soda works at Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, just south of Nancy in France — which placed him at the heart of the French Art Nouveau world as well as the Belgian one. He was also a dedicated photographer — the painter and art critic in the family was his brother, Théo Hannon. When the couple built their Brussels house, they turned to Jules Brunfaut, the architect who had designed their first home, and asked specifically for the style they loved.
The house was conceived as a portrait of their union, and Marie Debard took the lead in designing the interior. That is why its furniture is French: almost all of it was commissioned from Émile Gallé, a friend of the family, whose glass techniques had developed with the help of the Solvay works near Nancy — the same works Édouard managed.
The Hannon family occupied the house until 1965. After the death of the owner’s daughter the property was abandoned, vandalised, and at one point threatened with demolition. Brunfaut’s own daughter intervened, alerting the Royal Commission of Monuments and Sites; the exterior was classified in 1976, the municipality of Saint-Gilles acquired the building in 1979, and the interior was classified in 1983.
A major renovation followed in the 1980s. The house later served the photography centre Contretype, fitting for a home built by a photographer, before a further restoration returned it to public cultural use.
What you see
The facades combine white brick, limestone, and blue stone, and the house turns a corner with two strikingly unequal fronts: a short single-bay face on the Avenue Brugmann and a longer two-bay face on the Avenue de la Jonction, knitted together by an angular three-bay link. The asymmetry is the composition, not a flaw in it.
The couple’s ties to Nancy show in the interior decoration, which Marie Debard steered toward French Art Nouveau craftsmanship — Gallé above all — rather than the Brussels school alone. The house was conceived as a total environment, the kind of unified scheme — structure, glass, and furniture together — that the movement prized above any single ornament.
Practical information
- The Maison Hannon operates as a cultural and exhibition venue; opening hours follow its programme.
- Confirm current hours and exhibitions before visiting.
- The corner facade is visible from the street at any time.
- Time needed: 45–60 minutes with an exhibition.
Getting there
The house stands at the corner of the Avenue de la Jonction and the Avenue Brugmann in Saint-Gilles, south of central Brussels. Several tram lines run along the Avenue Brugmann and stop close by; the Horta and Brugmann tram stops are the most convenient.
Nearby
- Saint-Gilles and its dense cluster of Art Nouveau facades.
- Horta Museum, Victor Horta’s own house and studio, a short distance away.
In pictures
Sources
- Corrections provided by the Maison Hannon team, August 2026.
- Maison Hannon — official site.
- Commune of Saint-Gilles heritage information.
- Brussels regional monument classifications (1976, 1983).
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →Record researched and written by Luigi De Marchi for Cultural Heritage Online, 2026.
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