6 ms·

I wonder how expensive it is to maintain the castle. And since it has some kind of official designation, if you have to use period-accurate materials for repair

I wonder how expensive it is to maintain the castle. And since it has some kind of official designation, if you have to use period-accurate materials for repairs.

pmiller2 6y ago
I'm not totally familiar with French law on the matter, but, it's likely that, in addition to needing period-accurate materials, you also have to use period-accurate methods. This is what makes it expensive, since very few people are familiar with obsolete, 4-500 year old building methods.
Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
Rather expensive. The walls must be keep repaired and strong, a moat must be filled with water, a forest must be cleared up to a distance of a trebuchet shot, the locker must have enough food supplies. Fail to do any of this, and an eventual siege will end in a disaster. And of course you'll need a retinue to man the walls.
- hodgesrm 6y ago
  Though as Dumas shows through countless examples in his works the retinue of defenders need not be large if they are very doughty. [1] The works of Goscinny and Underzo also explored the proposition that the defenders might further increase their advantage through judicious use of technology. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Musketeers#Plot_summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Musketeers#Plot_summ... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix
  - mkl 6y ago
    *Uderzo I always misread it as Underzo when I was a kid though.
    - hodgesrm 6y ago
      Same here. There's probably space here for an off-topic thread on words we misread/mispronounced as kids and how long it went on. In my case it's about 45 years.
rtpg 6y ago
Someone on Twitter said the maintenance is likely around 200k/year. I don’t know how they got there but at the same time you probably need at least one full time staff at that size right?
fvdessen 6y ago
AFAIK the biggest ongoing expense which such castles is the heating bills which are insane since castles are very big and badly insulated. The gardening expenses are also quite intense; depending on the size of the property you may have to hire personnel. The price of repairs are also mind-boggling, but for those you can get state subsidies
- ampdepolymerase 6y ago
  Will the HOA/government prosecute you if you neglect maintaining the flora?
  - oblio 6y ago
    Government, maybe. There are no home owners associations in Europe, at least not in the sense the US has them.
    - Uberphallus 6y ago
      You sort of have them for co-properties (apartment blocks and residences) but the neighborhood racket that American HOAs are luckily isn't here.
      - oblio 6y ago
        Yeah, I know about those, but they can't kick you out of your home or demand payment for BS. If anything, it's the other way around, as long as you respect the law, they're at your mercy, usually. If you don't want to cooperate with them, they can't do anything.
  - microtherion 6y ago
    The HOA better show up with some siege equipment to serve papers, though.
  - pjc50 6y ago
    "HOAs" in the American sense are a 20th century construction that originally had ethnicity clauses in and have tried to replicate those with proxies since they were banned. They only exist when they're put in by contract law by the builder; I don't believe they can be "retrofitted"? This castle is from the 11th century. It might have had the 11th century equivalent, which was feudal burdens, but those have almost certainly been abolished since the revolution. Scotland has formally abolished the feudal system; England, however, has not, so you may still find yourself liable for the repair of a church built ten centuries ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel_repair_liability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel_repair_liability

I wonder how expensive it is to maintain the castle. And since it has some kind of official designation, if you have to use period-accurate materials for repairs.

pmiller2 6y ago

I'm not totally familiar with French law on the matter, but, it's likely that, in addition to needing period-accurate materials, you also have to use period-accurate methods. This is what makes it expensive, since very few people are familiar with obsolete, 4-500 year old building methods.

Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago

Rather expensive. The walls must be keep repaired and strong, a moat must be filled with water, a forest must be cleared up to a distance of a trebuchet shot, the locker must have enough food supplies. Fail to do any of this, and an eventual siege will end in a disaster. And of course you'll need a retinue to man the walls.

hodgesrm 6y ago
Though as Dumas shows through countless examples in his works the retinue of defenders need not be large if they are very doughty. [1] The works of Goscinny and Underzo also explored the proposition that the defenders might further increase their advantage through judicious use of technology. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Musketeers#Plot_summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Musketeers#Plot_summ... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix
- mkl 6y ago
  *Uderzo I always misread it as Underzo when I was a kid though.
  - hodgesrm 6y ago
    Same here. There's probably space here for an off-topic thread on words we misread/mispronounced as kids and how long it went on. In my case it's about 45 years.

rtpg 6y ago

Someone on Twitter said the maintenance is likely around 200k/year. I don’t know how they got there but at the same time you probably need at least one full time staff at that size right?

fvdessen 6y ago

AFAIK the biggest ongoing expense which such castles is the heating bills which are insane since castles are very big and badly insulated. The gardening expenses are also quite intense; depending on the size of the property you may have to hire personnel. The price of repairs are also mind-boggling, but for those you can get state subsidies

ampdepolymerase 6y ago
Will the HOA/government prosecute you if you neglect maintaining the flora?
- oblio 6y ago
  Government, maybe. There are no home owners associations in Europe, at least not in the sense the US has them.
  - Uberphallus 6y ago
    You sort of have them for co-properties (apartment blocks and residences) but the neighborhood racket that American HOAs are luckily isn't here.
    - oblio 6y ago
      Yeah, I know about those, but they can't kick you out of your home or demand payment for BS. If anything, it's the other way around, as long as you respect the law, they're at your mercy, usually. If you don't want to cooperate with them, they can't do anything.
- microtherion 6y ago
  The HOA better show up with some siege equipment to serve papers, though.
- pjc50 6y ago
  "HOAs" in the American sense are a 20th century construction that originally had ethnicity clauses in and have tried to replicate those with proxies since they were banned. They only exist when they're put in by contract law by the builder; I don't believe they can be "retrofitted"? This castle is from the 11th century. It might have had the 11th century equivalent, which was feudal burdens, but those have almost certainly been abolished since the revolution. Scotland has formally abolished the feudal system; England, however, has not, so you may still find yourself liable for the repair of a church built ten centuries ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel_repair_liability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel_repair_liability