French chȃteau available to buy from just €50

The chȃteau de Saint-Vincent-de-Paluel - famous in France for its appearance in 1968 film Le Tatoué by Denys de la Patellière - is currently in ruins, and is being sold by its British owners as they no longer have the means to maintain it.

Although the property is due to be auctioned on September 21 (at a price starting at €250 000), the “Adopt A Chȃteau” association - which seeks to “save chȃteaux in peril” - has put the property on the crowdfunding website Dartagnans, in a bid to raise €500 000 ahead of the auction date, in what has been called the “first chȃteau crowdfunding ever in France”.

This amount will allow the purchase of the chȃteau as well as its upkeep, the association has said, and give co-ownership of the property to everyone who pledges money.

Pledges cost just €50 each, plus an extra €1 each at the end of the campaign, if it is successful.

As per the usual rules of online crowdfunding - which is an online system through which members of the public can pledge small-to-medium amounts of money in return for goods or experiences - no money will actually change hands unless the full amount is raised by the deadline.

Should the bid be successful, all those who pledge will go on to become co-owners of the chȃteau, and enter into a company of directors, with an administration council and an Annual General Meeting (AGM) allowing the co-owners to have their say in the running of the site.

The idea has seen scepticism from locals at first, but appears to have gained in popularity more recently, with the crowdfunding amount having raised €182 727 from 2 487 people so far, with 22 days to go until the funding deadline.