Château de la Trapperie

Habay, Belgium, Belgium

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Château de la Trapperie is a historic country house and estate in Habay‑la‑Vieille, part of the municipality of Habay in the province of Luxembourg, Wallonia, Belgium, situated in the green valley of the Rulles river among cascading ponds, wooded slopes and old industrial remains.

The site’s origins lie in 1613, when Herman de Trappé, former mayor of Liège, obtained permission to build an iron forge on the banks of the Rulles, taking advantage of the river’s water power and the nearby Anlier forest that supplied wood for charcoal; this forge, together with others such as Pont d’Oye, Châtelet and Bologne, created an important iron‑working basin that drove the development of the two Habay villages for over two centuries.

The family residence that gave the estate its name was originally built in the 17th century, was rebuilt in 1737 by Servais‑François de Baillet as shown by the datestone above the entrance porch, and later became known as La Trapperie, after its first owner’s name, while the industrial buildings were gradually transformed, the forge closing in the 19th century and briefly becoming a nail factory and even an agricultural school.