Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are probably the most high-profile recent purchasers of a château. The couple, who are parents to six children, spent £35 million on the Château Miraval, a 1,000-acre property with a vineyard, not far from Aix en Provence.
This same aspiration to acquire a slice of French history and lush French countryside is once more gripping British buyers.
They may not have the same money to spend as the Brangelina household. But, since France has more than 36,000 communes (administrative districts), nearly every one with a château, there is plenty of choice — at most budgets. It is possible to acquire a 200-year-old château for under €1 million.
Sextant Properties, a specialist agency, says there has been an annual 20 per cent jump in the number of châteaux for sale. At the same time, prices are down, mostly in line with the 10 per cent fall in the French property market, although, in some cases, the reductions are far greater.
Sarah Francis, of the UK-based web agency Sifex, explains: “The price cuts are mainly to keep in line with the market, although, of course there are exceptions where the owners are particularly keen sellers. or where the property was overpriced in the first instance.”An 1860s château in the Gironde, in southwest France, listed on Sifex has been reduced from €4.2 million to €2.9 million.
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“The owner has spent a lot of money on this property and the original price was really to reflect the expenditure,” Francis says. “At this new level it does represent good value, especially given its proximity to Bordeaux, which is the main town in the Gironde,” she says.
A Renaissance château in the Sarthe region of the Loire Valley, for sale with the Cabinet Le Nail agency, is down in price from €1.6 million to €1.48 million. A white stone gem in a small village, it is surrounded by its formal gardens.
The reductions are partly the result of the difficulty in valuing a château, Herve Malyeisse, of Cabinet le Nail, says. “Châteaux are hard to price because they are all different. It is similar to trying to value a work of art and it takes experience.”
Philip Hawkes, who with his wife Patricia, has been involved in selling châteaux for more than 30 years, adds: “There have been a lot of newer estate agencies seducing owners with unrealistic valuations.”
Hawkes has just cut the asking price on Château de Boigneville, a painstakingly restored medieval moated château near Chartres.
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“The American owner no longer finds flying the Atlantic a pleasure and put the château up for sale two years ago for €2.2 million,” Hawkes says. “We have now put it back on the market for €1.65 million.”
Valuing a château may be tricky, but there are some ground rules. The location and the state of the property will determine its price bracket.
Anything below €800,000 is likely to need a lot of refurbishment, including rewiring, replumbing and reroofing.
Not only are these costly, but they may also be time-consuming, particularly if your property is a ‘monument historique’ (the equivalent of listed). The Loire, famous for such French national treasures as the Château d’Amboise, is the most expensive area. Dordogne, Aquitaine and Charente farther south tend to be cheaper. Here you could find something like the 18th-century property, pictured left, near the town of Cognac. The château has seven bedrooms, three acres of land,a swimming pool and costs €945,000 (£851,557).
Additional reporting: Paul Shearer
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