Borlo is a sympathetic village with a charming and well-preserved historic center, hidden in the valley of the Cicindria creek.
The name ‘Borlo’ first appears in 1065 as ‘Burlou’, which means birch forest. Borlo was almost completely destroyed twice: in 1465 during the passage of the Burgundian troops and in 1645 by an exceptionally heavy hailstorm.
The Pachthof is a 400-year-old square farm also known locally as the Guilliam’s Farm. The first and only Guilliams from the 17th century we find is Thomas.
However, it is unlikely that there was only one man with that name at that time. Since the whole Guilliams family we found are descendants of Thomas, we could assume that Thomas Guilliams may have been a Walloon immigrant called Guillaume.
Thomas Guilliams lived on the farm before 1706 and was married to Barbara Wauters. Gérard Guilliams (°12 February 1773), a descendant of Thomas, even made it mayor of Borlo from 1836 to 1851.
During this period, a retired priest came to live on the farm. It was Nicolas Vanmarsenille with the monastic name Jules.
It was told that Father Jules had so much money with him that the bishop of Liège decided that he had to do a personal investigation in Borlo. It is not certain what happened to Father Jules’ money.
Gérard Joseph Retro’s great-grandson became mayor in 1927 and remained mayor until his death in 1969. He was the last mayor of Borlo.
The grandparents of the current owner, Rohnny Schils, bought part of this farm in 1939. At that time it was possible that a farm was in several pieces sold. The front part on the right side of the entrance gate was sold to Mr. Moureau together with a piece of the garden. This part of the house was bought back by the Schils family in 1980, and together with the purchase of the farm, it came into the possession of the owners of Het Pachthof.
In 1938, the English garden was sold to the Gelaesen family, who dug out the garden to make the stones for building their house, and the former café and hall Palace. In this part, bought by Isabel Schils in 2007, six guest rooms were furnished. The left side of the entrance gate was sold to another family, the Bovy family. The Schils-Claes family bought this piece back in 1995 to also accommodate six guest rooms.
This way the former farm has been brought back together into one whole.
