Is “La Plus Petite Maison de Bruxelles” really the smallest house in Brussels? Nothing could be further from the truth. Nevertheless, this most curious of buildings is so small that it’s easy to miss! Hidden away at number 19, rue Marché aux Fromages, what’s its story? Bruxelles Secrète shares with you the most unusual anecdotes about this curiosity.
With its small footprint and ramshackle storefront, “La Plus Petite Maison de Bruxelles” (The Smallest House in Brussels) isn’t exactly glorious, and its fate has been most unfortunate. Abandoned, neglected, forgotten… it’s easy to pass by without noticing it. Yet it’s only a few meters from the Grand-Place, a place that attracts thousands of people!
Its construction dates back to the 1850s. With its lower height than the surrounding buildings, it has five levels. Its surface area is just 2.75m wide and 1.75m long! Difficult to live in, you might say… In fact, no one has lived there for a long time, even though its total surface area is 70 m2 (approximately 16 m2 per floor)!
The many lives of “The Smallest House in Brussels”.
There’s nothing charming about the fate of Brussels’ smallest house. Once a crêperie and a cabinetmaker’s workshop, the building has undergone a series of changes of ownership, gradually losing its land value and appeal.
In 2001, it was sold for the astronomical sum of 4.9 million euros – a sell-out at the time! In 2007, it was put up for forced sale by the courts due to the owner’s inability to manage the property.
Only five years later, in 2013, the house was repossessed in a decrepit, pitiful state. The owners wanted to transform it into a tourist and commercial attraction. A limited liability company was set up under the name “La Plus Petite Maison de Bruxelles”. But business was not going well, and the SPRL was 25,000 euros in debt at the end of 2014. Bankruptcy was declared in October 2016.
According to a logic-immo.be article from January 2021, the house was owned for a time by an anonymous French owner wishing to “turn it into a business”.
However, since February 2024, it seems that the house is once again for sale. Is there a curse preventing the building from finding a lasting owner?
📍Rue du Marché aux Fromages 19. The courtyard on the ground floor is sometimes open to the public (but be careful not to disturb the neighbors!).