Château Shopping (no. 1)
Although we had experienced Château shopping five years ago, now it is different as we actually have the funds to make a purchase. The past properties we had seen (still shedding a tear over Château de Marcellus) had been an exploratory exercise in discovery. Discover the types of properties available that were in our projected price range, and discover if we truly wanted to take on a monumental home restoration. Our exploratory visits did indeed convince us that this was something we wanted to do. Every property we had seen, regardless of condition, was incredibly inspiring.
Fast forward to December 2020. We chose to start our journey in Carcassonne for two reasons. One is that this is the furthest east that we will be looking. From Carcassonne in the East to Bordeaux in the West, Gascony in the South to the Dordogne in the North. We are not ruling out the Loire, but the weather is a serious consideration. The other reason to start in Carcassonne is that five years ago we met a wonderful real estate agent, Anna Sirinides that is incredibly supportive and helpful. Anna was instrumental in procuring a rental home for us in Carcassonne, and was the welcoming committee when we arrived in town.
It would appear that I failed to mention that Carcassonne is an amazing city crested with on incredible ancient walled city known as La Citê.
After a week of adjustment and learning to find our way around our temporary home town, we ventured out on the 13th to see our first Château. Château du Vieux Fort. Anna had made huge attempts at getting us in to see Vieux Fort the last time we were here, four and half years ago, but was unable to obtain a showing as the owner was in South Africa.
Vieux Fort, sitting right on the Canal du Midi near Castelnaudary, still being available was first on our list to see. And we were not disappointed! Originally built as a Garrison to house soldiers protecting the Canal, the Fort was purchased in the late 18th century and reworked/rebuilt/redressed as a Château by a famous Italian architect. (hence its vey Italian appearance), for a Baroness whose name I am searching for. The Château ticks all of the boxes! Fabulous public rooms, fantastic spaces for guest suites, amazing outbuildings for development into event spaces, not to mention gardens that simply await some thoughtful magic. The down side of the property is the asking price versus condition. We have visited the Château three times. Each time meeting with and being escorted around by the owner of the property, (I adore this about French real estate, begin shown the property by the owner!). On our second visit we took a contractor with us, James, whom we had met five years ago on our first reconnoissance trip to France. We met with James the following day and talked through the restoration moment by moment and came to an understanding that the property was massively overpriced considering the condition and the amount of money that will need to be invested just to get the Château on its feet again, not including any of our upgrades for the new business. With this information in mind, and knowing that we had just arrived France and this was the first property we had seen… we made an offer!
The owner rejected our offer of course. He did not counter, he simply said no. On the other hand, he has phoned our agent twice to “check-in". We are willing to move a little, but we are currently very far apart. The Château has been on the market for roughly seven years and there is a big (pricing) reason for this. So we wait, we see… In the mean time our search continues, the Holidays notwithstanding.
We have seen one other property since we arrived, but I am afraid it is not even worth a breath. Unappealing, drab, sadly lived in, and sitting right on top of a very busy road. When I say on top of, I mean if the road were any closer it would be running through the kitchen. Of course for me it was over when we were shown the Massage Room, right on the ground floor between the Dining room and the Living room, followed by a massive yoga studio. I quietly, verbally, commented ‘interesting’ while the inside voice was screaming “Dirty Hippie House!!!”
Our search goes on!
What do you do after three hours of viewing a Château?
Have a sit down!