The house on Graaf De Smet de Naeyerlaan - whose construction began in 1899 - was located in the so-called Hazegras district, a southern urban district cut off from the centre by the station at the time.
The three-story bourgeois house at number 68 had been built just a year earlier, in 1928, at the same time as quite a few houses along the avenue, which have been protected as an ensemble since 2005. Most of the new rental houses along this stately entrance to Ostend were occupied by middle-class tenants such as fishermen or fishmongers and clerks. The house where the Spilliaerts lived was characterised by an impressive circular bay on the first floor.1 There were also plenty of trees for the artist to observe. In nearby Maria-Hendrikapark (1888-1892), they define the landscape along with the large-scale water features. The Ostend water tower, which he had previously depicted, was also nearby. Although this was a newly built house, part of the ceiling fell down.2 This forced the family to move yet again, this time back in the direction of Leopold Park.
