# Chateau Rouge, Wallonia, Belgium, April 2018



## HughieD (Apr 15, 2018)

*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 this castle. In 1760 one of the abbots spent more time in this castle than at the monastery and rebuilt the castle, 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 is built at the same site. Some 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 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 palace to myself. Looking back at reports from several years ago it’s sad to see have 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

Some roof details:


img6521 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img6490 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img6519 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img6517 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

And nearby some stables too:


img6536 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img6535 by HughieDW, on Flickr


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## BikinGlynn (Apr 15, 2018)

Shame the inside is a mess with such a beautiful exterior. Nicely reported.


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## Sam Haltin (Apr 15, 2018)

What a shame that this place is going to ruin. If you compare with the "then" photos by clicking the link you'll see the difference. Clicking on the link I liked what was offered on the menu.


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## HughieD (Apr 15, 2018)

Hugh Jorgan said:


> What a shame that this place is going to ruin. If you compare with the "then" photos by clicking the link you'll see the difference. Clicking on the link I liked what was offered on the menu.



Tragic innit? I guess 42 Euros for a room was a fair bit back then. Very sad...


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## Dirus_Strictus (Apr 15, 2018)

Nice one Hughie - trip down memory lane for me as I actually met Madame Edithe Van den Troost during our stay in the late '90's. Sadly; even then you could see that although the structure looked good, the old building was beginning to show its age.


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## HughieD (Apr 17, 2018)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> Nice one Hughie - trip down memory lane for me as I actually met Madame Edithe Van den Troost during our stay in the late '90's. Sadly; even then you could see that although the structure looked good, the old building was beginning to show its age.



Wow...what a small world. Wonder if Madame Edithe is still alive and if she is, what she is up to. She'd be saddened by the plight of her old hotel for sure.


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## Mikeymutt (Apr 17, 2018)

Shame the place is badly trashed hughie.but a good comprehensive report covering the site well.looks like you had a good time over there


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## UrbandonedTeam (Apr 17, 2018)

Nice man, lovely exterior and i like the hints of beautiful design you can see within the destruction inside.


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## prettyvacant71 (Apr 20, 2018)

Oh now thats a real shame she's looking so sad now, glad you persevered and went back for another look HD. A few of us got chased away by the locals with pitch forks a few yrs ago so never even caught any externals so I'm glad to see an update on how the unusual place is coping with the stresses of life...as for DS, some of his comments just blow me away hahaha!

Thanks for the update HD, I really like to see how the places have changed over the years, even if its not what we would like to see, the demo of the other two mansions you mentioned really saddened me as there were shells but still had some lovely features inside like their vaulted ceilings


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## Priority 7 (Apr 20, 2018)

Wow that has been trashed since I went. We were lucky enough to miss airsofters and angry locals, after a failed visit the year before. That said a couple of locals were certainly providing X rated entertainment in the long grass out back


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## smiler (Apr 21, 2018)

Well shot Hughie, .


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## Trinpaul (Apr 22, 2018)

Nice post! Great facade, shame the insides are falling in.


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## The Wombat (Apr 28, 2018)

always surprises me the volume of good stuff in Belgium I see on the net
Nicely photographed Hughie


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## HughieD (Apr 29, 2018)

The Wombat said:


> always surprises me the volume of good stuff in Belgium I see on the net
> Nicely photographed Hughie



Cheers Mr.Wombat. It's rammed with stuff mate. Couldn't get round every on my list and missed a stonking place close by to where we were staying. Got a few more reports to come.


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## Malenis (May 1, 2018)

Despite it being wrecked.....that is one stunning building!! Thanks for sharing.


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## HughieD (May 1, 2018)

S'all right innit? Tragic such a lovely building is sliding into dereliction..


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## jondoel (Dec 12, 2020)

14 years ago 42 euros wasn't a fortune but you can see from the 2006 pics that the place was looking very tired and outdated even then. It would have been a fortune to update. I wonder why people just don't sell rather than leave to rot.


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