Castle Hof in Melis

A moat whole, consisting of a court with outbuildings and the actual castle complex with different volumes from the first quarter of the 20th century, inspired by neo-Flemish Renaissance style, going back to an old site.

The "Melisheim" mentioned in the old documents contains a suffix (-heim or -hem) that refers to an inhabited place (farm, village,....): at the oldest mention in 1448 there is mention of a farm, fief of the lords of Grimbergen, then belonging to Maria Taye and then owned by several prominent families. Since the 18th century until today property of the family de Beughem de Houtem, the last of which died in 1961. Today it is still inhabited by Baroness Anne-Marie van Eyll, widow of viscount and mayor Arthur de Beughem who donated it by will to his nephew Geoffroy de Pierrefeu.

The original complex was located in the middle of the Breut and Castle Heath (see old maps); grew into a castle of the lordship of Melis with the "Wo(e)l(f)put(te)hoef" (see Breutheide number 20 site with preserved ramparts) as dependent tenant court (until 1977). According to a first, brief description of January 18, 1649, this would have looked like a fortified house, closed on four sides, with tower(s), embrasures, moat and drawbridge. Testimonies from the 19th and 20th centuries speak of a chapel, a pond, a gazebo and ice cellar ("coelcamere") in the forest.

A moat whole, consisting of a court with outbuildings and the actual castle complex with different volumes from the first quarter of the 20th century, inspired by neo-Flemish Renaissance style, going back to an old site.

The "Melisheim" mentioned in the old documents contains a suffix (-heim or -hem) that refers to an inhabited place (farm, village,....): at the oldest mention in 1448 there is mention of a farm, fief of the lords of Grimbergen, then belonging to Maria Taye and then owned by several prominent families. Since the 18th century until today property of the family de Beughem de Houtem, the last of which died in 1961. Today it is still inhabited by Baroness Anne-Marie van Eyll, widow of viscount and mayor Arthur de Beughem who donated it by will to his nephew Geoffroy de Pierrefeu.

The original complex was located in the middle of the Breut and Castle Heath (see old maps); grew into a castle of the lordship of Melis with the "Wo(e)l(f)put(te)hoef" (see Breutheide number 20 site with preserved ramparts) as dependent tenant court (until 1977). According to a first, brief description of January 18, 1649, this would have looked like a fortified house, closed on four sides, with tower(s), embrasures, moat and drawbridge. Testimonies from the 19th and 20th centuries speak of a chapel, a pond, a gazebo and ice cellar ("coelcamere") in the forest.

A moat whole, consisting of a court with outbuildings and the actual castle complex with different volumes from the first quarter of the 20th century, inspired by neo-Flemish Renaissance style, going back to an old site.

The "Melisheim" mentioned in the old documents contains a suffix (-heim or -hem) that refers to an inhabited place (farm, village,....): at the oldest mention in 1448 there is mention of a farm, fief of the lords of Grimbergen, then belonging to Maria Taye and then owned by several prominent families. Since the 18th century until today property of the family de Beughem de Houtem, the last of which died in 1961. Today it is still inhabited by Baroness Anne-Marie van Eyll, widow of viscount and mayor Arthur de Beughem who donated it by will to his nephew Geoffroy de Pierrefeu.

The original complex was located in the middle of the Breut and Castle Heath (see old maps); grew into a castle of the lordship of Melis with the "Wo(e)l(f)put(te)hoef" (see Breutheide number 20 site with preserved ramparts) as dependent tenant court (until 1977). According to a first, brief description of January 18, 1649, this would have looked like a fortified house, closed on four sides, with tower(s), embrasures, moat and drawbridge. Testimonies from the 19th and 20th centuries speak of a chapel, a pond, a gazebo and ice cellar ("coelcamere") in the forest.

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