Specificities Ernest Blerot’s intent was not to reinvent architecture, in contrast to
Victor Horta. The architecture design of his projects differed slightly from the classic pattern of the Brussels one-family houses of the time that was partly determined by the establishment of regulations which set the widths and depths of the lots in the new residential neighborhoods, six-meters facade for about fifteen meters deep. The middle-class houses consisted often of a semi-underground level for services (kitchen cellar) topped with the elevated « ground floor » that was composed of three adjoining rooms, and with two floors of bedrooms. The bulk of the architect’s buildings are concentrated in a few streets and blocks in groups of terraced houses, the most important being a series of seventeen houses that occupied an entire side of a street. This standardisation kept the homogeneity of the whole, and above all helped strongly reduce construction time and cost. This work process made houses designed by Blerot affordable to the petty bourgeoisie with whom he was very popular. For every house, Blerot designed a different facade, every indoor and outdoor decorative element was customized. He designed his own stained-glass windows, sgraffito works, decorative ironwork, mosaics, pieces of wooden furniture, and door handles with meticulous attention to detail.
The business man Ernest Blerot kept some of the houses he built as his private property. He later transformed part of it into apartment buildings he rented out, and made a fortune in a short time. During the following years, when the public's attraction for the Art Nouveau began to decrease, he found it difficult to adjust to the new needs and ceased his activities.
After the First World War In 1919, Ernest Blerot dedicated himself to the reconstruction of in the
Ypres area, inherited from his wife’s family. At the end of his life, enthusiastic about mechanical things, he designed prototypes of motor vehicles. He died on January 19, 1957, in his mansion located near the
Ixelles Ponds, and was buried at Voormezele, near Ypres. ==References==