Chateau Lumiere needs no introduction, a magnificent building with such grandeur its hard to believe its been abandoned. The huge glass skylight allows daylight to illuminate all the floors, making for wonderful lighting. During the last few years Chateau Lumiere become a bit of a tourist destination, with vandals smashing the large mirror in the big foyer. Luckily its fared well over its many years of dereliction and is still one of the most beautiful buildings I have had the pleasure of exploring.
History
Built in early 1900s, this house was owned by a tobacco tycoon from Switzerland. After the owner moved away in 1950s, the house was used for business purposes, and was sold multiple times before finally being left empty.
There isn't a confirmed date it was abandoned, but the general consensus seems to say its in the 1980s.
The Explore
After finally finding the location of it and seeing it was a reasonable distance from Luxembourg where were staying for 2 weeks, it became a must do. We found a charming cheap hotel in the next town over and booked a night there.
Finally the day was upon us and were there, stood outside awestruck by the Neo-Baroque styling of Lumiere.
We looked for a way inside and quickly found a well beaten track round the back. As we approached I could hear voices inside.
We definitely weren't the only visitors that day, in fact there were loads of people wondering around inside!
Most other people were explorers like us, however some weren't there to take photos as it turned out a bit later...
We started with the basement and worked upwards. The basement actually had quite a bit of stuff still left there, unlike the rest of the floors that were bare to say the least. In fact the house was almost empty from the ground floor up. All the fittings and fixtures remained, but no personal items were left at all.
We photographed it from nearly every angle we could think of. The best thing about Lumiere is just how photogenic it is. Its hard to take a bad picture.
It was a fairly relaxed explore, until we witnessed a group of 12 year olds smashing the glass skylight and then coming downstairs smashing bricks onto the marble floor. The red-mist descended as I yelled down at them at them from one of the skylight balcony's while waving my arms around like a loony. I must have looked like a madman.
They didn't understand my English, I certainly didn't understand their French. Luckily they didn't stick around much longer to do any more damage.
With the drama over we got back to the explore, now alone in the house.
We spent about 3 hours inside in total, but you could easily spent much longer there if you wanted to photograph everything.
One thing that struck me was the quality of every little detail. Silly things like the latches on the windows still work flawlessly and feels better made and smoother than any modern window latch I've used before.
Anyway, on with the photos.
Photos
Externals
Internals
In the porch there is this notice, translates roughly too:
"Many of us have seen that you like this in all its splendor. Photographers, Models, Fans of Urbex, but some unscrupulous individuals do not respect...Alas!
Yet you are known everywhere for your splendor, and the sublime cliches that you have brought us.
Today April 19, 2015 we owe you this ... to give you a bit of sparkle ... after the vandalism that you have undergone.
Thank you to those who will preserve you forever
Respect this place as you would at home
PLEASE!
Do not break! Do not vandalize it..
Do not leave rubbish, paper etc..
Bring your waste back with you.."
The entrance hall and foyer.
Sadly this used to be where the the large mirror was, but was broken in 2015.
A rather interesting choice of wallpaper...
Recent damage to the glass skylight.
Saw this in the loft and couldn't help but get a photo too
The Details
The Basement
History
Built in early 1900s, this house was owned by a tobacco tycoon from Switzerland. After the owner moved away in 1950s, the house was used for business purposes, and was sold multiple times before finally being left empty.
There isn't a confirmed date it was abandoned, but the general consensus seems to say its in the 1980s.
The Explore
After finally finding the location of it and seeing it was a reasonable distance from Luxembourg where were staying for 2 weeks, it became a must do. We found a charming cheap hotel in the next town over and booked a night there.
Finally the day was upon us and were there, stood outside awestruck by the Neo-Baroque styling of Lumiere.
We looked for a way inside and quickly found a well beaten track round the back. As we approached I could hear voices inside.
We definitely weren't the only visitors that day, in fact there were loads of people wondering around inside!
Most other people were explorers like us, however some weren't there to take photos as it turned out a bit later...
We started with the basement and worked upwards. The basement actually had quite a bit of stuff still left there, unlike the rest of the floors that were bare to say the least. In fact the house was almost empty from the ground floor up. All the fittings and fixtures remained, but no personal items were left at all.
We photographed it from nearly every angle we could think of. The best thing about Lumiere is just how photogenic it is. Its hard to take a bad picture.
It was a fairly relaxed explore, until we witnessed a group of 12 year olds smashing the glass skylight and then coming downstairs smashing bricks onto the marble floor. The red-mist descended as I yelled down at them at them from one of the skylight balcony's while waving my arms around like a loony. I must have looked like a madman.
They didn't understand my English, I certainly didn't understand their French. Luckily they didn't stick around much longer to do any more damage.
With the drama over we got back to the explore, now alone in the house.
We spent about 3 hours inside in total, but you could easily spent much longer there if you wanted to photograph everything.
One thing that struck me was the quality of every little detail. Silly things like the latches on the windows still work flawlessly and feels better made and smoother than any modern window latch I've used before.
Anyway, on with the photos.
Photos
Externals
Internals
In the porch there is this notice, translates roughly too:
"Many of us have seen that you like this in all its splendor. Photographers, Models, Fans of Urbex, but some unscrupulous individuals do not respect...Alas!
Yet you are known everywhere for your splendor, and the sublime cliches that you have brought us.
Today April 19, 2015 we owe you this ... to give you a bit of sparkle ... after the vandalism that you have undergone.
Thank you to those who will preserve you forever
Respect this place as you would at home
PLEASE!
Do not break! Do not vandalize it..
Do not leave rubbish, paper etc..
Bring your waste back with you.."
The entrance hall and foyer.
Sadly this used to be where the the large mirror was, but was broken in 2015.
A rather interesting choice of wallpaper...
Recent damage to the glass skylight.
Saw this in the loft and couldn't help but get a photo too
The Details
The Basement
nice work Gromr.
