Hus close to the tower - Huy

The Maison-près-la-Tour or house near the tower is the oldest bourgeois house in Huy and perhaps even in Wallonia , also known as the "Maison Legrand" after its last owner (1922-1948). It stands a few tens of meters from the spot where the city's belfry used to stand ( Tour de la Ville , Cloche d'heure, destroyed in 1765), hence the name.

The building officially dates from the 13th century and was owned by wealthy families until 1580, but the history of the building goes back to the annual rent that successive owners owed to the Leprosarium des Grands Malades from the 15th century.

At the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century ( from 1580 to 1612 ) it was a "Mont-de-Piété" or "Leentafel" . When this institution went bankrupt, it was seized by the Leprosarium in 1612 for non-payment of rent. It then became a civilian house and eventually a multi-family home in the 19th century. In 1949 it was purchased by the city and listed as a historic monument, but subsequently fell into disrepair.

Its current state shows that it has undergone numerous renovations over the centuries. A chronogram on the portal in rue des Frères-Mineurs marks the end of a major renovation of the building (paCeM DILIgIte=1653 ). We also know that the building has probably suffered a lot of damage during the various wars, but also due to lack of maintenance and vacancy over the past 60 years.

Given the sad state of disrepair of this important example of 13th-century architecture, an ASBL, which included 24 members of the Hutois elite, was formed on 30 April 1977, with the aim of saving the building and preventing it from falling irrevocably into would fall into disrepair.

Last post 2023: "The Maison près la Tour has just been sold by the city (November 2015) to an architect for the symbolic amount of 1 euro, with the promise to turn it into a cultural center by 2025."

Willem Vandenameele