What do you do when you visit a world heritage building that is a private property and not open to the public?

You walk around the perimeter. Take photos of the exterior. Touch the wall and whisper to it that it still has value...

There are places where you proclaim that a picture does not do them justice. You declare that one cannot feel its wonderfulness unless you see it in person. Maison Guiette is not one of those places. A photo certainly does it justice.

Maison Guiette is not in central Antwerp, but it is simple enough to get to it by public transit. No inspiration can be found in the area immediately surrounding the building. A parking lot, a highway, and high-rise apartment buildings are Maison Guiette's neighbours.

However, around the bend from Maison Guiette - that is to say, to the southeast of Le Corbusier's building - is an early 20th century planned neighbourhood built on the lands that previously belonged to della Faille de Waerloos family. There are some nice terraced residential houses here, especially on Varenlaan. Den Brandt Park, and its namesake castle, is also in the neigbourhood.