For nearly 40 years, James Ensor lived in his parents’ house on the corner of Vlaanderenstraat and Van Iseghemlaan. His family had a chain of souvenir shops. They sold faience, porcelain, shells, Chinese vases, coral from Naples, jewels from Algiers and masks for carnival. The shop was on the ground floor and the family lived on the first floor, while Ensor had his own studio in the attic. When his mother died, Ensor moved to the house a little further down the street that he had inherited from his uncle Leopold, today’s Ensorhuis. He was then 57 years old. He lived there until his death, with his loyal butler Gust van Yper.

Hallview souvenir shop