Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete
Monument
Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete, located in Tourcoing (Nord), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Tourcoing, Nord, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.7267, 3.1646
- Mérimée Reference
- PA59000072
An Art Deco jewel dating from 1927 in Tourcoing, this bourgeois villa combines symbolic sculptures - a spinner and a footballer - a shell limestone façade and monumental stained glass windows of rare industrial eloquence.
History
Nestling in the urban fabric of Tourcoing, the Vandeveegaete house is one of the most accomplished expressions of Art Deco in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. Built in 1927 for a Belgian spinning mill owner, it embodies the ambitions of an industrial bourgeoisie keen to show off its status and passions through architecture that was resolutely modern for its time. Its façade of white shell limestone veneer, almost unreal in its Nordic greyness, is immediately striking for its assertive verticality and the rigour of its geometric lines. What makes the Vandeveegaete house truly unique is the narrative duality of its sculptural programme. Two high reliefs frame the ground floor window like two pages of an open book on the life of its patron: on one side, a spinner with a precise gesture evokes the textile industry that made the family prosper; on the other, a footballer in full swing reminds us that Vandeveegaete was a passionate patron of the local club. This synthesis of the private and the public, the intimate and the civic, is rare in the residential architecture of the inter-war period. Inside, the stairwell is the true sanctuary of the residence. A large, luminous stained glass window displays a striking allegorical composition: a spinner at a spinning wheel stands alongside the successive stages in the mechanisation and industrialisation of the spinning mill, like a hymn of glass and light to the productive modernity of the textile north. The verticality of the composition guides the viewer upwards, transforming each ascent of the stairs into an almost ceremonial experience. Despite the vicissitudes of time - a significant part of the furnishings was dispersed at auction in the 1970s - the architectural envelope retains much of its original character. The recessed door, forged from carefully chiselled metal, bears witness to the high level of craftsmanship that went into the construction of the building. Listed as a Historic Monument in 2001, the Vandeveegaete house stands as a precious reminder of a time when Tourcoing was a leading centre of the European textile industry.
Architecture
The Vandeveegaete house is fully in keeping with the Art Deco vocabulary of the inter-war period, characterised by the predominance of vertical lines, geometric shapes and the use of noble materials crafted with great precision. The façade, clad in a veneer of luminous white shell limestone, stands out clearly from the dark red bricks that dominate traditional Tourquennoise architecture, creating a deliberate effect of contrast and stylistic affirmation. The high composition, typical of bourgeois town houses of the period, maximises the vertical space on a constrained urban plot. The recessed entrance, protected by a wrought-iron door with refined geometric motifs, creates a transition between public and private space, while also constituting a decorative motif in its own right. The two sculptures framing the ground floor window - the spinner and the footballer - are executed in a strong Art Deco style, combining stylised forms with narrative expression. They blend harmoniously into the overall composition, without ever upsetting the geometric balance of the façade. The most remarkable interior architectural feature is the large stained glass window in the stairwell, whose vertical composition follows the upward movement of the staircase. The colour scheme, probably dominated by the warm tones and golden monochrome shades characteristic of Art Deco, bathes the staircase in a subdued, symbolic light. Despite the changes made to the interior plans and the disappearance of some of the original furniture, the architectural structure of the complex retains its stylistic coherence, making this residence an essential document for understanding residential Art Deco in northern France.
Related Figures
Vandeveegaete — filateur d'origine belge, commanditaire de la maison en 1927, mécène du club de football tourquennoisGéo Bontinck — architecte belge, concepteur de la maison, représentant du style Art Déco dans les régions frontalières franco-belgesArtisan(s) verrier(s) — auteur(s) du vitrail monumental de la cage d'escalier représentant l'histoire de la filature
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete located?
Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete is located in Tourcoing, Nord department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete built?
Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete open to visitors?
Maison d'habitation Vendeveegaete is currently closed to visitors.