All four houses were designed and built by the Belgian architect Victor Horta (1861–1947), who pioneered the Art Nouveau style during the mid-1890s.

He achieved rapid success, working on several prestigious buildings and receiving a number of official posts including a position at the Free University of Brussels.

[8] Among the architects who were inspired by Horta's works of the period are Antoni Gaudí and Hector Guimard.

Among the notable surviving examples of Horta's Art Nouveau architecture in Belgium that are not included in the UNESCO listing are the Hôtel Max Hallet (1903–1906)[10] and the Magasins Waucquez (1905–1906), which is now the Belgian Comic Strip Center.

The stylistic revolution represented by these works is characterised by their open plan, the diffusion of light, and the brilliant joining of the curved lines of decoration with the structure of the building.