Château Charles

It was intended as summer retreat for Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, governor of the Austrian Netherlands.

[1][2] They primarily used Tervuren Castle as a basis to hunt in the surrounding Sonian Forest.

[1][2] When Dewez fell out of favour, Louis Montoyer and Antoine Payen the Elder completed the palace.

[1][2] His nephew, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor first intended to sell the country house, but ultimately decided to demolish both the Château Charles and Tervuren Castle in order to recycle the building materials to pay off the debts left by Charles of Lorraine.

[1][2] Charles' successors as governors, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen, commissioned a new palace in Laeken, which was constructed between 1782 and 1784.