You may have already walked past its facade without being able to go inside. This fall, the Withuis, in the heart of Jette, is opening its doors. The restoration project for this major work by architect Joseph Diongre is nearing completion on Avenue Charles Woeste, where some twenty different trades worked on the site: companies specializing in listed heritage, manufacturers, and artisans. Nearlya century after Diongre’s time, it was necessary to rediscover his compositions, techniques, and finishes through historical research, and then adapt them to current heritage and technical requirements.The nonprofit Arkadia is organizing guided tours through November 22, 2026.
An exceptional home, redesigned from the facade to the garden!
Joseph Diongre built La Withuis in 1927 for the poet and municipal secretary Jef Mennekens. He designed the entire complex: the architecture, the interior decor, the furniture, and the garden layout. The house, which has been fully listed as a historic landmark since 1985—including its original furnishings—was home to four generations of the Mennekens family until the death of Daisy Maistriaux-Mennekens in 2018. A new owner acquired it in 2019 and immediately launched an in-depth historical study. The owner’s goal is not to turn it into a museum, but to preserve its function as a family home, lived in on a daily basis.
Surveys, documentary research, and stratigraphic analyses conducted bythe Royal Institute for Artistic Heritage have brought back to light colors, textures, and finishes that had been obscured by later alterations. The furniture designed by Diongre remains in the house, either in its original rooms or in a space specially designed for it when it is no longer suitable for everyday use. The existing attic space now houses a new family room. A skylight centered over the stairwell restores the overhead light that Diongre had already planned in his 1926 drawings. The renovation improves livability without imitatingthe historic architecture or creating a rupture with it.
Tours and a one-of-a-kind exhibition through November 22
Arkadia’s guided tours will also offer visitors the chance to explore an exhibition dedicated to the pioneers of Belgian geometric abstraction from 1920 to 1928. Works from private and public collectionswill be on display within the house’s architectural and historical setting. The Brussels-Capital Region supported the restoration, through urban.brussels, as part of its policy to preserve listed heritage sites. The administration also oversaw the entire restoration process.
Visitors will be able to see the granito façade on the exterior, which has been cleaned and repaired to closely resemble its original finish. The wooden and steel window frames were dismantled and restored in a workshop, and the woodwork has been repainted in its original color palette. Inside, the stairwell—the true backbone of the house—has been restored to its original two-tone black and ocher-yellow color scheme. Several rooms have undergonemeticulous restoration work on the textured plaster, ceilings, doors, stained-glass windows, and woodwork. Following the fall tours, La Withuis will also be available for rent.
📍183 Avenue Charles Woeste, 1090 Jette
