The French Embassy in Belgium consists of two buildings in very different styles, with façades on two separate thoroughfares: Rue Ducale and Boulevard du Régent. The Résidence de France, the home of the serving bilateral ambassador, is a neoclassical townhouse built by architect Jean Culot for Viscount Charles de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, a bibliophile passionate about French Romanticism. On his death, he bequeathed his collection of original manuscripts to the Institut de France, along with his townhouse, which has preserved a fine sequence of salons.
The diplomatic chancery, built in 1909 by French architect Georges Chedanne, occupies a building considered the only example of French Art Nouveau in Brussels. Together, these buildings are fully part of the architectural history of the City of Brussels and now stand as both witnesses and actors of French diplomacy and Franco-Belgian friendship. (Listed since 17/06/2010)