Stoclet Palace

Josef Hoffmann built the Palais Stoclet between 1905 and 1911 for the financier Adolphe Stoclet, and it is the most complete surviving expression of the Vienna Secession idea of the total work of art: Hoffmann designed the building, the furniture, the fittings, the cutlery and the garden, and the Wiener Werkstatte executed them, with white marble cladding edged in gilt bronze and a stepped tower carrying four figures. Gustav Klimt made the dining room frieze in marble, enamel, coral and gold, the Tree of Life, which is among his most important works and has never been publicly exhibited. The house is still owned by the family and has never been opened, so it is seen only from the street, and UNESCO inscribed it in 2009 on that basis.

What you actually see

• White marble and gilt bronze - the exterior cladding and its edging.
• The stepped tower - four sculpted figures over the entrance range.
• A total design scheme - building, garden and fittings by one hand.
• Klimt's Tree of Life inside - the frieze that has never been shown publicly.

When to go

Year round, but only from the pavement. Thirty minutes. Morning light falls on the street facade. There is no visitor access at any time of year and no prospect of it.

Honest expectations

It is closed and has never been open; you see a facade behind a fence from a busy avenue. The Klimt frieze cannot be seen by anyone. The house is on a main road with traffic. Crossing the city for it is worth doing only if a facade is enough.

Nearby

The Africa Museum at Tervuren is further out the same avenue; central Brussels is west.