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House Hunting in France: A Once-in-a-Millennium Castle for $3.3M
- sampo 6y agoNot really a once-in-a-millennium. There is always castles on sale all around Europe. Here's Wall Street Journal from 2017: European Castles: Easier to Buy Than You Might Think https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-castles-easier-to-buy-than-you-might-think-1504188030 https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-castles-easier-to-buy-...
- lostlogin 6y agoThe title states the situation accurately. It's talking about a specific castle.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- ur-whale 6y agohttps://archive.is/HtRXq https://archive.is/HtRXq
- warmcat 6y agoAll I think when I see a house/structure like this is: Ghosts...Nope.
- BlameKaneda 6y agoAlthough it's tempting to shell out a million or two on a stately home (like a historic castle in Scotland), since it seems like you're getting way more for your money, it's the repair and maintenance fees that can be insane. This chateau, on the other hand, appears to be in good condition and I reckon that much of the costs would involve hiring gardeners and landscapers to keep the property in good shape. Edit: I can't imagine what the heating bills are like.
- dnhz 6y agoI saw this tweet earlier: https://twitter.com/JohnArnoldFndtn/status/1316815681430716417 https://twitter.com/JohnArnoldFndtn/status/13168156814307164...
- cdnsteve 6y agoWhy are we linking paywall articles?
- baby 6y agoI constantly flag paywall articles, because I know that most people will just comment on the title without reading the story.
- hodgesrm 6y agoBecause they are good. I think you can read 5 a month for free at www.nytimes.com.
- wcfields 6y agoFor US users, chances are your local public library has a free day-pass for NY Times through their website. LA Public Library as an example: https://www.lapl.org/books-emedia/e-media https://www.lapl.org/books-emedia/e-media
- julienchastang 6y agoThe connection with the Unicorn Tapestries is interesting [1] [2]. I've seen them both. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_and_the_Unicorn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_and_the_Unicorn Edit: Fixed link
- ghaff 6y agoThe Cloisters is well worth a visit. I usually take the train into New York but, it's a good stop if you're driving in from the north.
- amacat1266 6y agoJust wow.
- dewitt 6y ago14-bedroom, 11,000 sq. ft castle on 94 acres. Not too bad. By way of comparison, this is what $3.3M buys you in SF: https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/2070-Beach-St-94123/home/2003454 https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/2070-Beach-St-94123/...
- baby 6y agoThis is so absurd, I left SF last month and I still can't fathom why anyone would spend that much money to get a house there. I guess if you are stuck there because of work, and work pays really well? But I can't see any other reason why you would pay that much money for a place that is not that nice.
- teacpde 6y agoIt is less logical, but when you see all your peers here spend that kind of money for houses, you start to question less. Also, it is a market, which is controlled by supply and demand dynamics.
- shadowgovt 6y ago... which, of course, include rampant speculation and wild assumptions about return on investment based on past history that may or may not reflect future performance.
- octoberfranklin 6y agoNo, it is a market whose supply is controlled by planning and zoning codes. There is nothing supply-and-demand about improved real estate. Farmland, maybe.
- nl 6y ago> By way of comparison, this is what $3.3M buys you in SF 4 Bedrooms and a yard within 2km of the financial district and 1 block from the waterfront for only $3.3M? Try getting that in Sydney! Edit: To the doubters, this is between $3M and $3.5M (Australian $): https://www.realestate.com.au/property-terrace-nsw-millers+point-134145366 https://www.realestate.com.au/property-terrace-nsw-millers+p... It's an area that is roughly comparable, but smaller, not great condition and a courtyard.
- henvic 6y agoGreat bargain for a remote-first world, isn't it?
- oh_sigh 6y agoExcept you're in the middle of no where(limoges 1+hr away, bordeaux 2+ hours away). And I guarantee all of your neighbors will hate you.
- StavrosK 6y agoWhy will your neighbours hate you? Just because you had $3.3M?
- oblio 6y agoKnowing France, very likely :-))
- saagarjha 6y agoPeople who live in castles have a history of not being all that well liked in France ;)
- microtherion 6y agoOn the other hand, most guillotines must be fairly rusty by now.
- adjkant 6y agoSo tetanus + death, not a great sell...
- brnt 6y agoGeneral property of the French.
- throw_m239339 6y agoCome on, la nationale à coté, you're not that much in the middle of nowhere. I used to commute almost that long everyday. Ya Poitiers à coté quand même non, c'est sympa? As for the neighbours well, as long as the owner is discreet...
- cm2187 6y agoThe cost of owning this building isn't the cost of buying it, it is the cost of maintaining it. And you need pretty deep pockets for that. And it's not like you will be allowed to dig a swimming pool in the courtyard. It is highly protected by the French historical monuments authority which must vet every single change you are making. It's more of a liability than an asset.
- Schnitz 6y agoA lot of the castles and palaces have been donated to "the public" that maintains them as tourist attractions or museums. Also Europe is not like the US, where you can just build in a lot of unincorporated areas, so building a new luxury home out of sight of the castle on your property is most likely impossible as well. I'm not 100% sure about this, but my guess is that the presence of the castle might even devalue the land in a lot of these cases, ie you would pay more for an equivalent amount of "empty" land.
- JimTheMan 6y agoI'd be running non stop murder mysteries if I owned a castle. But hey, that's just me.
- Cthulhu_ 6y agoThere's an interesting case going on right now; while not a castle, an 'old' royal palace has been sold to a developer and they're considering turning it into an event center with a hotel and apartments nearby (https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paleissoestdijk.nl%2Ftijdlijn%2F https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&u=https%3...)
- julienchastang 6y agoMoreover, are you not exposing yourself to French tax liabilities on your income and assets if you own property in France?
- cm2187 6y ago
- throw_m239339 6y agoBetween Poitiers (a french "tech hub") and Angoulême, next to a "national" highway, close to La Rochelle and l'île de Ré, pretty cheap for a castle, seems like a bargain to me for whoever can afford it.
- satya71 6y agoThe property tax is about the same as my rather more modest home!
- pcurve 6y agoI would kill for property tax bill like that..
- x87678r 6y agoOne thing about US houses is that the property taxes are really a huge burden. Around here its 2-3% of the property value every year. Most Europeans think Americans pay low taxes, but if you live around NY its normal to pay 40%-50% by the time you include all the extra taxes, and that doesn't include paying your own healthcare. (OK sales taxes are lower)
- jokethrowaway 6y agoI was definitely shocked at the amount of taxes you pay - especially considering you get very little (no, I don't consider the US army a good way to spend your money). On the plus side, you have lots of space, beautiful nature, cheap real estate and lots of money (which translates to higher salaries and better opportunities).
- dragonwriter 6y ago> One thing about US houses is that the property taxes are really a huge burden Effective overall property tax rates in US states range from about 0.5% to a little over 2%, IIRC, they absolutely are not a huge burden. > Most Europeans think Americans pay low taxes, but if you live around NY its normal to pay 40%-50% by the time you include all the extra taxes I doubt it, though maybe if you are confusing marginal for total rates you would get that.
- bluedevil2k 6y ago2% times 20 years, you’re looking at a huge tax bill over that time span.
- x87678r 6y agoProperty taxes are a huge burden where I live. Esp when you retire and have lower income you still have to pay $1-2k every month in taxes which is nearly as much as SS pays. Marginal is well over 50% in NYC, CA. eg top bracket marginal is 37% federal + 12.3% CA state + 1.45% Medicare is over 50% before property taxes. 40% total tax is very easy to hit. Like I said before if you're on Social Security or unemployed its really tough, I know someone who's out of work and paying $2.5K a month in property taxes, it eats up your savings super fast.
- debbiedowner 6y agoMy guess is that the historical society won't let you buy it without the furniture, and the furniture is multiples the cost of the building.
- jariel 6y agoFrench property taxes, and cost of maintenance, is the issue. The sticker price is a side-show.
- jshc 6y agoperhaps this can be a potential airbnb opportunity?
- prawn 6y agoLarge estates rented for extended family holidays or events are not uncommon in France and Spain. A few years ago, we had a family holiday/celebration in a four-storey French mansion in the middle of nowhere and it was fantastic. That slept 22, though looks like this castle is a couple of notches up from that!
- blizkreeg 6y agoDoes anyone think this piece is actually a paid one to drive interest?
- prawn 6y agoOf course it is. PR from the selling agent for a major property sale. It's likely that the agent's side also provided all the details about property ownership details in France to pad it out and get prospects thinking. Even if not directly pitched by the agent themselves, you often see these at the lower end where the property arm of a publication (lift-out or sub-site) features interesting/grand properties as a sweetener to whoever is advertising with them.
- ponker 6y agoTry running Cat6 through one of these walls. Hard pass
- bowmessage 6y agoAt least it would be easier than getting a WiFi signal through them! :)
- redis_mlc 6y ago1) Christine McVie bought s similar mansion in Kent, England and spent years and millions remodelling it. Unless she had a lot of writing credit (how you make money in the US music business, aside from touring), it might have been a large chunk of her fortune from Fleetwood Mac. She listed it afterward: https://fleetwoodmac-uk.com/wp/fleetwood-macs-christine-mcvie-puts-kent-mansion-on-sale-for-3-5m-daily-mail-uk/ https://fleetwoodmac-uk.com/wp/fleetwood-macs-christine-mcvi... 2) Everything is hard with an old mansion. For example, often they used lead sheets for roofing. So you need to fly in a lead roof craftsman. Then a stonemason. You get the picture. What owners do when they find a problem is to say budget 25% per year of the roofing problem, etc. and stretch it out, unlike a normal building.
- dwd 6y agoMakes sense. If you own an apartment a fair chunk of your body corporate fees go into the shared pool for maintenance and it would all be planned out well in advance.
- AzzieElbab 6y agoThere are townhouses in Toronto that cost more than that
- WalterBright 6y ago$3.3m in Seattle will buy you a dump :-)
- akhosravian 6y agoHere’s a random lake front house about 20 minutes from downtown seattle: https://www.redfin.com/WA/Renton/4051-Williams-Ave-N-98056/home/18658509?utm_source=ios_share&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy_link&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link https://www.redfin.com/WA/Renton/4051-Williams-Ave-N-98056/h... Here’s one with a water view for half that price if your concern is being in the city limits: https://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/2583-Magnolia-Blvd-W-98199/home/126732?utm_source=ios_share&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy_link&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link https://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/2583-Magnolia-Blvd-W-98199...
- WalterBright 6y agoWhat a dump!
- WalterBright 6y agoI see Bette Davis fans have passed into history.
- nkurz 6y agoSeeing as "Beyond the Forest" came out in 1949, it does seem likely that not that many people would here remember it. I don't, and had to search: Bette Davis - What A Dump! (Original) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3zShjyaTr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3zShjyaTr
- kortilla 6y agoThat “lake front house” is just a townhouse, which kinda proves the parent’s point. $3m and you have to listen to your neighbor’s TV and toilet flushes through a shared wall.
- cm2012 6y agoFeels like there must be a catch. It's a no brainer to buy that as a wealthy person.
- aborsy 6y agoFrench government will toast the owner(s). Even the normal buildings are heavily regulated.
- jkmcf 6y agoThe outside is beautiful, but you’d really need to be onboard with the interior design to live there. It would also be a crime to change it.
- Bayart 6y agoIf the interior is in the monuments historiques registry, it is an actual crime.
- numlock86 6y agoWhy was the painting on the wall blurred in the article? Or is this something else? https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/10/11/realestate/07IHH-FRANCE-slide-PZOH/07IHH-FRANCE-slide-PZOH-superJumbo.jpg https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/10/11/realestate/07IHH-...
- dwd 6y agoToo risque for the NYT? Note the painting of Francois de La Rochefoucauld to the right - it would be interesting to see the valuation of the artwork unless it doesn't come with the property.
- dwd 6y ago"Before strongly desiring anything we should examine what happiness he has who possesses it." - Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld "Maxims"
- vffhfhf 6y agoOh god. Imagine the dust.
- Shivetya 6y agoI had to laugh at the annual property tax fees, $3350 Euros? Is there some other tax for owning the Castle or fees of some sort? Are property taxes low in France as a rule? US property taxes can get really expensive in some areas of the country to where it can be a major portion of a mortgage payment if escrow is used that way. Even my thirty mile outside the metro property tax is over three thousand US and I have a friend in New Jersey who pays four times what I do.
- wazoox 6y agoIt's probably very low in this particular area. I pay about 1800€ for my small 3 bedroom house.
- bambax 6y agoThe most interesting part about this place is not mentioned: it was the home of François VI de la Rochefoucauld (1613-1680), moralist and author of the "Maximes". The historic place of the family was the chateau de la Rochefoucauld, located about 25 miles to the south of Verteuil, and from which the family got her name (la roche à Foucauld: Foucauld's rock). But nobody actually lived in La Rochefoucauld, they lived in Verteuil most of the time (and in Paris as well). Some members of my family are from that region and I've been there often. It's a very nice region with lots of nice places, castles, churches, etc. But there isn't much to do.
- seapunk 6y agoThe thing is with this kind of building sometimes new landowners fail to take care of them. A popular example is the Fort Harbour [1] that Alain Delon acquired during the 60s. The actor faced with the constraints imposed by French historical monuments and was unable to renovate it as he wanted. He ends up selling it. [1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_Harbour https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_Harbour