Kasteel Blauwhuis

Izegem, Belgium, Belgium

---

Kasteel Blauwhuis is the most imposing building in the town of Izegem in West Flanders, Belgium, set within a large, protected urban site that includes the castle and its 11.2‑hectare park called Kasteelpark Blauwhuis.

The name Blauwhuis (“blue house”) comes from the blue colour of its slate roof, and the estate was first mentioned in 1544 as a farmstead (pachthoeve) of the lordship of Schiervelde, later transformed at the end of the 17th century into a country residence for J.F. van Heurne and subsequently damaged by French troops in 1794 before being restored and passed to the noble family de Pélichy through marriage in 1807.

In the 1870s and especially in the 1880s the building was rebuilt and enlarged into a grand neoclassical castle under Baron Louis Gillès de Pélichy, who together with his wife Marie de Pélichy gave it its present form, and the castle remained in the hands of the Gillès de Pélichy family, who played an important role in Izegem’s social history, until 1984, after which it was managed by a foundation and used as a festive hall until 2015, then bought and extensively renovated by the construction company Romel rising to become today a prestigious events venue.