Waleffe Castle, Exceptional heritage property in Les Waleffes, Belgium

Waleffe Castle in Les Waleffes, part of Faimes, is an 18th-century Louis XIV-style residence built from 1706 to 1711 by engineer J. Verniole after drawings by Daniel Marot. A central block stands between a gravel forecourt and a garden, flanked by two wings on the courtyard side and two wing stubs on the garden side. The pale stone facade has rows of white-framed windows and a projecting entrance bay with a triangular pediment and clock face.

Blaise Henri de Corte (1661–1734), a Liège arms manufacturer, poet and grandson of industrialist Jean Curtius, inherited the estate from his mother Marguerite-Victoire d'Alagon and had it rebuilt entirely. Construction ran from 1706 to 1711 under the French engineer J. Verniole, working from drawings by Daniel Marot. The castle has stayed with the same family for centuries, now the barons de Potesta de Waleffe.

The castle's name comes from the Waleffe family, and the barons de Potesta de Waleffe have owned it for centuries. Each year the baroness Marie-Laurence de Potesta de Waleffe hosts "Waleffe en Fête", bringing some forty artisans and artists to the estate. In the former farm, now the Laruelle farm, Louis de Potesta de Waleffe has set up a herb shop.

The castle is a private, inhabited residence, so visits are not open to the public on a daily basis. The main chance to see the site is "Waleffe en Fête", the annual event organised by baroness Marie-Laurence de Potesta de Waleffe, which brings together around forty craftspeople and artists. The neighbouring farm, formerly the Beguin farm and now Laruelle, houses a herb shop set up by Louis de Potesta de Waleffe.

During the Second World War, the castle and the neighbouring farm, then the Beguin farm and now Laruelle, sheltered the "Otarie" group of the Armée secrète, the Belgian resistance. The future baron Louis de Potesta de Waleffe later set up a herb shop in the old farm.