Interest high in the sale of Europe's oldest castle
HK expat among those keen to buy a restored piece of history in France
History is on the block in France, with the restored, 1,000 year-old, Le Donjon du Faucon Noir (Fortress of the Black Falcon) on the market for Euro1.65 million (about $14.96 million).
The property, described as Europe's oldest castle, has attracted potential buyers including a British expatriate working in Hong Kong, a leading Singapore businessman and the president of an oil company who arrived on a private jet to view the property. Most interest, however, has come from the United States and Scandinavia.
'We are very excited by the response. The sale has generated a great deal of interest from the four corners of the world,' said Harry Atterton, who has spent Euro1 million converting the property from a wreck to a trophy home and tourist attraction.
Although it is in central France, on the edge of the town of Montbazon in the Loire Valley, the huge stone castle can be considered English. It was built in 991 by the Count of Anjou, an ancestor in lineage of Queen Elizabeth II. His descendents fought on the English side during the Hundred Years war that raged across France during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Mr Atterton and his wife Jacqueline Courtot have been restoring neglected French ruins since the 1980s, and will use the money generated from this sale to invest in more properties.
'We have chosen monuments that are important in historical terms, and that have been neglected.'
At the heart of the two-hectare grounds is the castle keep where the couple have restored the lodgings built into the castle walls, including the tower.
Once part of the Count of Anjou's royal residence, this home is set around a leafy courtyard and is flanked by a walk-in bird sanctuary and a Gothic summer retreat adjoining the crenellated ramparts.
The three-bedroom, two-reception room home features an oak spiral staircase leading from the entrance hall to the first floor. At the top of the tower is a private terrace with panoramic views over surrounding rooftops and fields.
The castle's grounds have been transformed into a park, lawned throughout in the 'English style', to offset the high castle walls.
'It was an old ruin, completely gutted with no roof. It took a massive amount of work to consolidate the wall foundations. What's left of the inner castle is like a mini-manor house,' Mr Atterton said.
The couple opened the castle to the public in mid-2004, holding a medieval festival to mark the end of four years of restoration work. The restorers believe the castle will become a huge tourist attraction, with plans for a medieval village, museum complex, twin classrooms and an amphitheatre to be built on site.
The medieval garden could also be re-sown and a network of underground passages opened up, Mr Atterton suggested.
'We have given birth to a major new site in historical terms. This was Europe's first castle,' he said.
The couple started their retirement hobby in the 1980s by restoring a 15th century, 100-room chateau.
