The Red Room is one of the reception rooms Joseph Hertogs designed in 1905 for the banker Edouard Thijs-Cateaux, modelled on the great Parisian hôtels particuliers of the eighteenth century.

The carved oak walls are original to Hertogs’ design and have survived intact for more than a century. Between them, floral panels in deep red give the room its name, and a marble mantel stands at one side. A great window opens onto a roofed terrace, which leads out into the sculpture garden.

Archival photographs show the room as it was lived in, filled with tapestry-covered chairs and crystal chandeliers. Today it is furnished with contemporary pieces chosen to answer its warmth: materials that glow, reflect or deepen alongside the oak and red.