Villa Cogels

This villa has become an antithesis of heritage conservation. This Belle Époque villa was only protected at the moment the building permit for the apartment building behind it was already approved. As a result, only the façade was preserved, and a new apartment building was erected behind and above this façade. A compromise that makes it impossible to be happy...

The rich façade is almost entirely made of blue limestone and suggests that the interior must have been worth seeing as well. The name of the villa directly refers to the Antwerp builder, Baron Cogels. This baron had this property constructed as a holiday home by the coast, around 1900.

The architect signed his design on the façade pedestal: Théophile De Grooff. The floral whip motifs on the decorative railings of the balconies and the ceramic tiles on the floors are clearly inspired by art nouveau. The imitation stonework on the ground floor and the gable decoration of the bay window, on the other hand, are more eclectic.

Toerisme Middelkerke