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As Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Margaret of Austria was interested in introducing humanism and the Renaissance to the Netherlands. She was not at all interested in the old-fashioned Gothic style of the famous Keldermans family, and engaged Guyot de Beaugrant, her personal architect to build the façade of her residential palace (the Hof van Savoye) in the new style.
The façade designed by Guyot de Beaugrant is one of the oldest example of Renaissance in the Netherlands and in northwestern Europe.
Margaret of Austria lived in the palace. She had chosen the city Mechelen because it had a social peace and was at a central position in her empire. Today the building is the city's courthouse.
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