Chateau

Tourist lets, ‘cheap’ chateaux, gutter rules: French property round-up

Our recap of recent property articles that you might have missed

Less than €500,000: five bargain chateaux for sale in France

These impressive properties do not always cost a king’s ransom - and not all need heavy renovation

French chateau owner heartbroken over motorway planned 300m away

Château de Scopont in Tarn should have been protected by its listed monument status

Chateau an hour from Paris available to part-own for less than €60

Participants will become ‘co-owners’ and have the right to free entry to the site for life, a say in its future and – perhaps most exciting – the right in time to free stays at the site

Dordogne, Brittany: Eight French châteaux for sale for under €700,000

Many people dream of owning a fairytale chateau so we went on a tour of France to see what was available for under €700,000. Here's our pick - and not all of these properties need a lot of renovation

We bought a hotel in France: From ‘go home’ graffiti to Michelin star

A British couple saved an abbey from financial ruin and turned it into a luxury hotel. They say it was road full of pitfalls but worth it

Château de la Mercerie: Folly of brothers who could not stop building

Work to repair a crumbling chateau and its 220m classical façade ‘folly’ has reached the stage where the property can soon be hired out for weddings and corporate events

Chateau life in France: 'Cold winters and hard work but no regrets'

More than 1,500 of France’s 40,000 chateaux are currently for sale but what is the reality of chateau living in France?

Chateau sales are booming in France since first Covid lockdown

An estimated 500 chateaux change hands each year and there are probably around 1,500 on the market most years

Huge French château with water damage to be auctioned at €278,000

The château, built in 1900, boasts three floors and a basement and is located in the regional national park of Ballons des Vosges

18th century château in southwest France up for auction from €90,000

The Château de Nescus is set in a national park with extensive grounds and was formerly a convent, then a children's holiday centre. It needs extensive renovation work

Condé nest’s magical chateau interiors

The private apartments and library at Château de Chantilly provide a fascinating insight into the piety and learning of its former residents

Infamous €57m French Chateau Diter ordered for demolition

The demolition of an illegally-constructed “neo-Renaissance style” property has been definitively ordered in the latest court ruling

Our restored chateau starred in TV contest

Hollywood stars film at French château

Hollywood actors Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Adam Driver are currently filming scenes from new Ridley Scott film The Last Duel at the Château de Berzé, in Saône-et-Loire, eastern France.

Record numbers of chateaux for sale in France

If you dream of living in a chateau and have a few million to spend, now could be the time.

French ruin château Rothschild to be restored to glory

The 19th century château Rothschild, in the Paris suburbs, and which once belonged to a banker to Napoleon III, is to be restored to its original state after lying derelict for almost 40 years.

Crowdfunding site helps save chateau

Historic 'first' as 6,200 people from 45 countries join to buy derelict site

French chateau overrun by protected storks

A 13th century French chateau once owned by the family of William the Conqueror has been taken over by more than 170 storks, which a bird expert has said is a rare event in France.

French château owner wins €700k payout from LGV line

The owner of a château in the Sarthe department has won more than €700,000 in compensation after successfully claiming that a nearby LGV train route has caused a loss in overall value of the property.

Rebel Ferré and his chimp’s chateau for sale at €4.7m

The former Lot home of composer, poet and author Léo Ferré and his chimpanzee is on the market for €4,770,000.

Chateau’s owners lose fight to halt wind farm

Owners of a chateau have lost a bid to withdraw a wind farm’s planning permission - because being able to see the turbines was not a good enough reason to object.

When an incomplete address is not incomplete...

"The Château de Blois has not moved since construction started in the 13th century"

Auction sells over 700 French château stone ornaments

Hundreds of “château style” historical stone ornaments - including a Louis XIII chimney surround estimated to be worth up to €480,000 - are to be sold at auction near Paris on September 24.

Complaint after château trees pruned into penis shapes

The mayor of a commune in the Drôme (‎Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) has lodged a formal complaint after some mystery visitors cut four trees in front of the Château d’Hauterives into penis shapes.

Templars live on in historic buildings

The Knights Templar may have been wiped out in the 14th century but their stories and many of their original buildings live on, as Mark Hayes discovers

No drama for this French chateau restoration

Guillaume Picon enjoys the restored elegance on show at Château de Villette in Val d’Oise

Macrons plan to build private pool at holiday fort

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron are planning to construct a private outdoor pool at their official holiday residence, the Fort de Brégançon, in a bid to escape being seen by paparazzi on the fort’s private beach.

See the Eiffel Tower as never before – in Lego

Giant model is one of the largest ever and took four months of planning, six hours to build and 160,000 bricks

Macron celebrates 40th birthday at Château de Chambord

President Emmanuel Macron celebrated his 40th birthday this weekend, spending the occasion with family at the Château de Chambord, as well as visiting France’s newborn baby panda.

Crowdfund chateau bid fails

Restaurateur outbids group of thousands who pledged €50 each

€15m buys Provence gem

What is said to be the oldest chateau in Provence – the 11-century, 5,000m2 Château de la Barben – is for sale for an asking price of €15million.

George Lucas buys vineyard in the Var

Star Wars director George Lucas has bought a 115 hectare organic vineyard in the Var, Château Margüi.

Chateau life in plastic pieces

Take one million Lego bricks, a historic Loire chateau and create a life-size Louis XV chair, a carriage clock, a desk and even a chateau hound... welcome to the Histoire en Briques Lego exhibition at Château de Cheverny, Loir-et-Cher.

US heritage lover's heaven-sent legacy for abbey

Six historic sites benefit after US architect bequeaths them his entire estate

Welcome to Chambord - the fairytale chateau built to give a king a home for just 72 days

Once, Chambord was famous for being the empty palace where the kings of France rarely set foot, surrounded by a forest that was later only accessible to those in presidential favour. Now, Francis I’s ‘Utopia’ is being restored to its former glory, as Gary Lee Kraut finds out