Villa Beau-Site

The Villa Beau-Site or Maison Nelissen (Nelissen House) is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. It was built in 1905, in Art Nouveau style, as the private residence of Dutch-born architect Arthur Nelissen and his wife, soon after their wedding.[2] It was classified as a protected monument in 2006.[3] It is located at 5, avenue du Mont Kemmel/Kemmelberglaan in the municipality of Forest.

Villa Beau-Site
The Villa Beau-Site (centre) with its two neighbours
Alternative names	Maison Nelissen
General information
Type	Town house
Architectural style	Art Nouveau
Address	Avenue du Mont Kemmel / Kemmelberglaan 5
Town or city	B-1190 Forest, Brussels-Capital Region
Country	Belgium
Coordinates	50°49′19″N 4°20′27″E
Completed	1905 (1905)
Client	Arthur Nelissen
Designations	Protected (23/02/2006)
References
[1]

The building's façade is unusually narrow, under 5 metres (16 ft), but richly decorated. The ground floor, in sinuous Art Nouveau style, has an asymmetrical layout and is in blue stone and with details in original elaborately wrought iron.[3] The first floor is dominated by a large horseshoe arch which perforates the façade, giving way to a small loggia. Behind the loggia, another horseshoe arch frames the window opening to the loggia. The top floor contains a small wrought-iron balcony, and the very top of the façade is decorated with a bas-relief depicting a vase of flowers. The material used for the façade is mainly brick: white bricks cover most of the surface but green bricks and blue stone has been used to highlight the arch and other features of the façade.[2] In 1920, decoration in the form of stylised roses were added between the first and second floor.[3]

Inside, the building preserves its original floor plan. It forms part of a row of homogenous town houses, built between 1904 and 1910 in eclectic styles, overlooking Forest Park.[2][3]

The building bears certain similarities with the Saint-Cyr House by Gustave Strauven, also in Brussels.[2] The official list of architectural heritage of Brussels describes the facade of the building as "remarkable" and art historian Cécile Dubois has described the building as "a stunning architectural gem".[2][3]