The Bellevue hotel was built in 1776 for wealthy wine merchant and innkeeper Philippe de Proft on the first plot of land at Place Royale/Koningsplein to be sold to a private individual. Described as a hotel for travellers, its architecture complied with Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa's specifications, designed to maintain the overall neoclassical style of the square. Over the years, the hotel's guests included French novelist Honoré de Balzac, Austrian statesman Prince Klemens von Metternich and Jérôme Bonaparte (Napoleon's youngest brother). The building was purchased in 1902 by the Fondation de la Couronne and subsequently used as a residence by one of King Leopold II's daughters, Princess Clémentine. A few years later, it was redecorated and occupied by Prince Leopold and Princess Astrid. Unoccupied from 1934 until 1953, it was loaned to the Red Cross. In 1960, it served as a reception and accommodation centre for Belgians who had fled the Congo and as temporary accommodation for civil servants from the former colony. The building became a museum of decorative arts and later a museum of the Belgian royal family (known as the Museum of the Dynasty). Today, it houses the BELvue Museum devoted to the history of Belgium. (Listed 22/12/1951)