Hôtel d'Ansembourg, Baroque private mansion in Féronstrée, Belgium.
Hôtel d'Ansembourg is an 18th-century former private mansion on Féronstrée in Liège, built as a red-painted brick town palace with a symmetrical five-part facade divided by stone pilasters. Its central section carries a sculpted pediment and a balcony with a wrought-iron Régence balustrade above the round-arched stone doorway. The interior preserves its vestibule, oak staircase and reception rooms with stucco, painted ceilings and carved panelling.
Michel Willems, a wealthy merchant and banker from Eupen, made his fortune trading gilded Cordoba leather in Verviers and later as banker to the prince-bishops of Liège. He had the old foundry of the Saint-Barthélemy collegiate church demolished and commissioned Johann Joseph Couven to build this mansion between 1738 and 1741. In 1788 it passed to the Ansembourg family, whose name it has kept.
The house displays European decorative objects from the 18th century, including tapestries, painted leather walls, and stucco ceilings with mythological scenes. The rooms reveal how wealthy merchants decorated their homes with precious items and what artistic tastes dominated the period.
The museum has been closed since 2020 for major renovation work. A three-phase project begun in 2024 includes a contemporary extension, full restoration of the building envelope and later restoration of the furniture and interior decoration, at an estimated total cost of 8.7 million euros. Check the city of Liège's information before planning a visit.
The kitchen walls are covered with 2,598 Delft tiles, counted and recorded in the sources. The room also holds Liège cabinets and copper and pewter utensils. The house was built for Michel Willems, a Eupenois merchant and banker, and the kitchen is one of the few rooms whose tile count is documented.
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