Acerca de
History of the house and its inhabitants
Charles Lemaitre bought the house in 1887 from sir François Dierinck, to start a small industrial bakery with his wife Anna. That way he could supply the whole neighborhood of the beguinage and the closters with fresh bread and sweets. He bought the bakery equipment with counter, scales, weights, baskets, bonbons, chocolates, stove etc.. from François, for which he paid 270 Belgian francs! (see picture of the bill of sale)
Soon enough there was new life in the bakery, in 1888, a little girl named Rosa was born. As a young girl she inherited the bakery but she had no experience whatsoever in baking bread. By marrying the 6 years younger servant Ephrem, who completely mastered the ins and outs of the bakery, she ensured the continuation of the family bakery.
Rosa and Ephrem worked hard, but lived happily and were blessed with 4 charming and healthy sons . It was Adrien who continued the bakery until 1987
The bakery shop with the big counter has become our cosy entrance room with open fire. The storage and the shelving were located in the current entrance hall. Where at that time was the hot bakery with the ovens where the hot buns came out with bread shovels , today there is the warmth of our cosy breakfast room
The cold bakery , with the scales and doughmachines, was a big space where also the bonbons and chocolate were made.
Today we can dream away there, in the rooms called 'french green', 'arabic blue' and 'nordic orange', where the small chocolate gifts are maybe the silent witnesses of the formar artisans in sweets. The most beautiful, stately room, where only the special guests were invited that time, is now our lavender room for our romantic guests who also deserve something special.
Staying in B&B Petit Prince is a bit experiencing history in this charming mansion with the soal of a loving Ghent family.