The Beaucarne family
From the 17th century onwards, the Beaucarne family was a prominent bourgeois family that settled at the foot of the then imposing Saint-Salvator Abbey in Ename. This inspired them to purchase their family residence in 1748 on the village square and the street that would later be named after them.
Beaucarne House has always remained in the hands of the same family, many of whose members have held important positions in Belgian history.
During the French occupation, a member of the Beaucarne family served as deputy prefect under Napoleon. Members of the Beaucarne family also took part in the formation of Belgium in 1831. The mayors from the Beaucarne family left a lasting mark on Ename and were always closely connected to the local community. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Beaucarne family belonged to the highest intellectual and literary circles of their time, including the families Buysse, MacLeod, Loveling, Fredericq, …
In 1945 Mayor Louis Beaucarne died without children and the estate passed to his nephew Louis Fredericq, then chief of staff to King Leopold III, whose descendants still live in the family residence today. In 1955 Jacques Fredericq and his wife Marie-Claire Lilar became the owners of Beaucarne House. Marie-Claire Lilar (1934–2022) was the daughter of the writer Suzanne Lilar and Minister of State Albert Lilar, and the sister of the writer Françoise Mallet-Joris. During her life she was a renowned art historian, specialised in 18th-century painting and domestic culture, with an unparalleled passion for Beaucarne House and its interiors.
Since 2015 the grandson of Jacques Fredericq and Marie-Claire Lilar, Julien Fornari, together with his wife Lena Vastesaeger, has been living in the house and has begun their own chapter in the story of Beaucarne House.
Since the passing of Marie-Claire Lilar in 2022 they have continued the life’s work of their grandmother, together with the Vzw Beaucarne House, restoring the family residence and sharing it with the wider public.
In this way Beaucarne House has been inhabited by the same family for more than 250 years and the family tradition continues.
The house and its collections
The story of the house and its inhabitants is beautifully illustrated by the collections that have miraculously survived the passage of time and have been carefully preserved. Because the house has always remained in the same family, Beaucarne House is able to take its visitors back to the 18th and 19th centuries through its original interiors and decoration.
The house contains several remarkable rooms such as the Directoire-period library, the romantic “red room” with decorative panels and wall paintings from the Louis XV period, a true cabinet of curiosities, the stately music salon and the grand dining room with their Rococo marble fireplaces, the ceremonial kitchen and many rooms with preserved wallpapers from the early 19th century.
The Beaucarne and Fredericq families were also passionate collectors of remarkable antiquities. The house contains a highly original and diverse collection, including many objects originating from the Saint-Salvator Abbey in Ename. After the destruction of the abbey during the French Revolution, several important abbey possessions found a new home in the rooms and gardens of Beaucarne House. During your visit you can admire, among other things, portraits of the last abbots, an 18th-century sacristy cabinet and a masterpiece from that period. A large part of the former abbey archives is also preserved in the archives of Beaucarne House.
Other important collections that can be seen in the house include antique dollhouses and miniature theatres, a natural history collection, a collection of religious globes, household objects and furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries, and much more carefully gathered over the centuries.
Discover them during a guided tour and reserve your visit here.
The organisation
Beaucarne House is a historic family residence that has been inhabited and lovingly cared for by successive generations of the same family since 1748. In 1976 the estate was protected as a historical monument. The initiative for this protection came from the then residents of the house, Baroness Marie Fredericq-Lilar (1934–2022) and Baron Jacques Fredericq (1926–1996), whose grandson Julien Fornari together with his wife Lena Vastesaeger founded the Vzw Beaucarne House in 2018.
The aim of the association is to preserve the family residence and its remarkable history, but also to finance the necessary restoration works in order to secure the future of this important historical heritage.
This historic residence is one of the few authentically preserved 18th-century monuments in our country, where both the exterior and interior have survived the passage of time. Thanks to the many preserved family stories, original decorations and collection pieces, the story of the house and its inhabitants becomes tangible and visitors can experience the house in its entirety.
Step into this story full of wonder and discover Beaucarne House!
All income (from guided tours, the tea room and other activities) goes entirely to the preservation of this unique protected monument. Support our project and discover the unique history of Beaucarne House!
