Giuseppe and Alda Ruffolo are exploring the French countryside to find the perfect four-bedroom home with a big yard a spacious kitchen and room to entertain oh and one more key thing they want this house to be a castle spectacular I'm like a kid in a candy store this is not real punch me but can they find a dream castle that satisfies their needs and fits their budget breathtaking I think this might be my room nine bathrooms that's a lot of cleaning for me normally his job the Kennedy family stayed there it's fabulous oh this is spectacular you know what I think I think we're gonna need more friends this is Castle hunters I'm Alda and I'm Giuseppe Ruffolo my husband's very passionate about everything he puts his mind to exciting but at the same time very scary all that keeps me grounded it takes me a long long process of convincing there she usually comes around I usually come around we're in France and we're about to shop for castles we have vacationed here in France for many years I have a really neat spiritual connection to France the culture the people the history honestly it's amazing France has the most beautiful castles anywhere in the world I find a castle to be quite exciting and what it offers it's got all these interesting rooms and crannies the castle is not just a building it's a story that can live on if we restore it and maintain it again Giuseppe and Alda are searching for a castle with at least four bedrooms four to six thousand square feet and about five acres of land they also want a large open kitchen a tree-lined driveway and easy access to local amenities ideally their castle will come furnished for the price their budget is between one and 1.3 million dollars so I wrote in my journal eight years ago that I would buy a castle in Europe renovate it and then save it for the next generation and now my green light come true I told you shouldn't let me drive it couldn't get another neutral look at these beautiful rolling hills could this little town coming up Giuseppe and Aldous first stop is in the town of Chateau tional located in the Burgundy region of France the town centre features several small stores and restaurants as well as a farmers market on the weekends it's a three and a half hour drive from Paris and approximately 45 minutes from the first Castle Giuseppe and alder we'll see ok this is not real is it pinch me that's amazing this is incredible okay just a please welcome to the Renaissance Chateau Armenia this is a 19th century house money in Chateau in the Renaissance style and it is built on foundations dating back to 835 Wow that's the best impression the castle was built in the 1850s by a lottery winner who won two hundred and eighty thousand francs today it's the home of a Nobel Prize laureate the property here has 5 acres the asking price is 1.6 million US dollars the price is over our budget that's gonna be probably our biggest stumbling point oh wow this is amazing I like it this is lovely it has three four salons it has an office upstairs we have TEDMED rooms nine bathrooms nine bathrooms that's a lot of cleaning for me yeah normally his job it had quite a grand entrance I was impressed I loved the ornamental moldings I love the ceiling moldings it's hard to believe this could be our home welcome here in the dining room Oh breathtaking does this door make me look small it makes me feel small look at the ceiling that's very attractive many French castles were robbed of their bronze hardware by German troops in World War two but this castle is one of the few exceptions this is an old ceramic heater so you'd heat up your pot in here and keep it warm in here is their functioning fire heater Oh Edward I can honestly see us with family around this table this is gorgeous here we are in the ground slope Wow I love the size I love the fact that it's got an oval shape to it I think this might be my room the living room was quite grand the curved wall on the end was spectacular because it gave you the illusion of an even larger room how is it heated it is heated by a central heating system running on oil yes certainly something to think about as far as the heating goes it's a large chateau so the heating system is not going to be cheap to run the square footage is not something that we require it's an added bonus but it also is added to the cost Wow look at that fireplace it's green marble beautiful desk this could make a good office you mean the castle also has a billiards room in several dressing rooms since castles rarely have closets storage can sometimes be an issue well this must be the kitchen well what do you think hon well I think it'd know her and I would never be able to say in the kitchen together a hundred and fifty years ago the main kitchen was located in the castles basement where a staff of 10 prepped the food today the only functional kitchen is this prep kitchen in the castle's tower this is going to be the hardest sell on this I agree it's a grand place it really is my favorite room is the dining room I love the warmth I love the way the furniture set up the kitchen is an issue for us it's small there isn't much that we can really do with it unless Giuseppe has some great ideas up his sleeve the Parkland is exquisite because it gives us the privacy I can see our grandkids building tree forts in those hundred-year-old trees the acreage is also exactly what we're looking for this could be the type of castle we see ourselves living in that's incredible my gosh what a beautiful place amazing how many castles are currently for sale in France two to three thousand five to six thousand or ten to twelve thousand you how many castles are currently for sale in France there are an estimated two to three thousand Giuseppe and all this next stop on our castle hunt is in las llaves your luau which is located in the Loire Valley about two and a half hours from Paris in addition to its restaurants hotels and small shopping area the town is a well known destination for the annual lamang grand prix auto race the castle is just 5 minutes from the town centre look at the tree-lined driveway that's exactly what I was looking for thought is amazing look at the detail work on the top of the dormers Edward hello welcome to the Chateau into n a Chateau fit for a king I love it Chateau antolín was built in 1852 a hundred years later President John F Kennedy roamed its halls and vacationed here after his death his wife Jackie Kennedy spent time recovering at the castle have an estate here of 25 acres seven bedrooms on the master bedroom floor 12 bedrooms on the floor above overwhelmed alright you know what I think I think we're gonna need more friends the land the massive trees the size of the castle it's breathtaking it was built in the 19th century it was the latest technology for that time the asking price is 1.7 million US dollars so it's a little over our budget but spectacular I'm like a kid in the candy store I can't wait to go inside this worries me because when he's that passionate about anything I start to panic so I can't wait wow these are really high ceilings yeah isn't this a fabulous okay yes it is so let me show you the dining room here Wow love the size and the windows and the amount of light that's generated the dining room unfortunately the walls do need some tender loving care they're old they need to be refurbished hallways are rarely found on the main floor of French castles Wow instead the rooms are designed for entertaining and flow seamlessly into one another you've got such great sized rooms every room is connected great flow perfect for entertaining the floor-to-ceiling windows in all of these rooms are amazing because you get the full view of the outside it feels like you're part of the outside you know what I think our problem is going to be is not going to be inviting the people it's gonna be getting them to leave I love the walls here all the walls have silk lines the deck art here is very nice quite taken by that lovely window glass that is magic let me show you lights during the day and it gets dark outside that is gee closeness and I've become Samira well isn't it great the castles main floor also has a billiards room an outdoor patio and a moderately sized kitchen oh this is a grand staircase feel like a princess yet I do this is a beautiful sized bedroom very spacious I love the fact that there's a fireplace in here the bedrooms are very large I love the availability of space so that you could create little sitting areas oh look at the clawfoot tub your favorite and I find that quite interesting a little secret pathway there's a winding staircase so this is the third level this is the first level of the servants quarters in the 1800's a staff of 10 and cooked for the castles owners while another 15 oversaw the ground maintenance now certainly a level that would require a little bit more renovations oh yes for sure this is the servant staircase used to go downstairs into the basement wow this is really old look at the arched ceilings on this that supports the whole structure going downstairs I could see an incredible wine cellar down there lots of storage areas and some interesting beds I don't think that was a selling feature for the place loved the grounds I love the size although 11,000 square feet is quite large we've got 20 bedrooms a yard of 25 acres everything is big it's also quite close to Paris so if we do decide that we want to do some shopping we can run into Paris in a couple of hours and I really enjoy that now the problem is that it's not just the fact that it's over budget it's now we have to spend the money renovating the second the third floor was certainly attract yes if we were going to consider other means of income revenue modern castle owners have to find creative ways to bring in revenue this property actually has a chapel on-site and a castle like this can fetch $15,000 a weekend if rented out as a wedding venue I really don't know if we can afford this I love it but look at that amazing view on the city now that was worth the treacherous walk how much does it cost per year to maintain a medium-sized castle in France fifteen to thirty thousand dollars twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars or fifty to seventy five thousand dollars you how much does it cost to maintain a medium-sized castle in France the costs can range between 15,000 and 30,000 dollars a year the final stop on Giuseppe and Alda store is in exeed a it's a small French town of only 1,300 people it has one grocery store and a handful of restaurants but the nearest nightclub is two hours away Giuseppe and Alda are meeting with another agent blue notice on TechSoup le who will lead them through their final castle so Joe CP older this is Chateau tuxedo what happened it's incredibly high can you imagine somebody laying all those stones one at a time this is a house which is about 4,300 square feet it has six bedrooms six bathrooms now how much is this for now it's around 1.2 million dogs it just has a WOW factor to it it's tremendous I mean the entry is like wow wow this is amazing the entranceway is one of the few rooms in the castle large enough to fit a formal dining table when we first walked inside the huge fireplace that faces you as you walked through the door it was amazing it's very different I'm not used to coming from the entrance and seeing a formal dining room the dining table was directly in front of the entrance door so that in itself kind of threw me off a bit and does the furniture come with the vidcon yes it can it is added to the fries wow this is spectacular 15th century lovely sculpture ladybugs from the early 16th century gothic architecture here is unbelievable this is a gorgeous room the castle was once home to several famous French musicians but its most famed guest was true royalty King Henry the fourth I mean how many places would King Henry have visited this is one of them it's fabulous this is the room that would be a perfect room for the guys and I smoke a cigar light a big fire I might have a debate on that Bruno because this would be great for a meditation yoga room so this is one of the six bedrooms it's a bit small but I can see some potential I mean obviously we'd have to take a look at the wallpaper and the carpet would need replacing and the own suite I may take a look tough needs a little bit of work yes yes but it's a good size very spacious in here the castle also has a large office and several bedrooms on the upper level but Giuseppe and all does key rooms might not be the size they're looking for the kitchen very difficult to operate even for two people was quite small master bedroom was way too small would never fit the furniture that we would want in there but that room beside it was a grand room with a fireplace and that would be a perfect master bedroom so there is going to have to be some conversions done we're going to go up these towers it's about 80 feet high it has a 134 steps these fortified towers were originally built to spot intruders but in the year 1182 they were attacked by King Richard the Lionheart that was a good hike look at that amazing view on the city that was worth the treacherous walk wow that's incredible another area completely over there the treachery of going up those stairs 130 434 stairs were very very steep but the view is dramatic well this would be awesome because we could sit up here for the better part of the day enjoy a nice lunch you'd have to bring two bottles of wine here because you're not going to go back down to get the other bottle once you finish the distribution I really like the entrance I like the fact that it's a large room with a beautiful fireplace my favorite is the 15th century chapel I've seen that yeah the acreage is a little bit smaller than what we were looking for we've seen the town and I love how close it is very convenient looking at those towers outside now are quite fabulous the problem is those towers are very expensive to maintain what do you mean by maintenance because doesn't need any maintenance for centuries there's quite a bit of stone now that's loose in the tower structural issues are probably the most difficult things to repair on a castle because it takes a lot of scaffolding it takes a lot of chiseling if you don't repair them they fall out it could take a long time centuries yes but it still has to be maintained geez concerns you great-great-great grandchildren it certainly falls within our price range we'd have to make sure that it's going to be efficient enough cost wise that it makes sense for us to purchase the property and is this what we absolutely want because you can't just like it you have to love it okay how long does a French castle typically stay on the market one to six months six to twelve months or twelve to eighteen months you how long does a French castle typically stay on the market the average is between six and twelve months we've seen all three castles now it's time to make a decision I think it's gonna be very tough but I also think we can narrow down to two the Chateau exceed you was lovely I was actually quite pleasantly surprised how beautiful that main level was yes I agree the towers were amazing well that Chapel with the Gothic architecture was to die for the town it was a very sort of a non-event town we'd have to travel greater distance to get the amenities that we're looking for the size of the land there's only one acre which means that we'd have very little privacy I think overall there were more negative aspects than I'd like to consider let's talk about Chateau amber going huh lots of square footage yes it's got good interior space and it's got the right amount of land with five acres you know the rooms were lovely but I found each one of them needed a lot of attention that kitchen is almost impossible to expand being in the tower it's very unfunctional the other factor is the price at 1.6 it is extremly over our budget let's talk chateau on to him you drive up that beautiful tree-lined driveway and you see this incredible facade yes the main rooms oh there's roll attack Euler they are spectacular the Kennedy family stayed there think about the history behind that you've got Paris within you know two two and a half hours away and the little town which is only a few minutes away it's very convenient in saying that it's even more over-budget now than the one in Burgundy we'd have to work with how we'd be able to even supplement it's just huge but we might be able to work that to our advantage investment wise I feel that this property could be worth double if we do the renovations you could concentrate on only a couple of the bedrooms that we need to renovate we will make money and continue its legacy honestly Giuseppe I don't know if I'm there I know and I know it's always a challenge for you but please I mean really big we chose Chateau on trend because of the sheer beauty of it although it's way over what we need we have so many possibilities Giuseppe and Alda offered 1.4 million dollars for the castle 300 thousand below asking price they're currently awaiting a counteroffer this is our favorite place in the world and it'll be wonderful to start a new chapter in our life hopefully it accepts this next offer we'll be moving in in a couple of months can't wait you
