Julia Leach dreamed of owning a chateau as a girl. She blindly convinced her parents to buy a castle – the costs ate away the dream.
Real estate prices in San Diego are high, but in France historic buildings are offered very cheaply. So Julia Leach, 33, and Caroline Ibarra, 37, sold their home and invested 2.3 million euros in the Château de Puy Vidal in Charente.
The couple packed their bags and moved into the 750-year-old building with Julia’s parents and sister to convert it into a dream castle. Her adventure started like a typical Instagram makeover story. All couples encounter difficulties. But Leach and Ibarra hadn’t bought a farm or an old inn, but a huge property. And their problems grew immeasurably with the dimensions.
Huge chateau, huge problems
The house covers 1300 square meters, plus a park and outbuildings. Everything wants to be entertained and renewed. These costs completely eat up the income from renting it out as an exclusive retreat. They estimated 1 million US dollars, the equivalent of almost 900,000 euros, for the renovation. They have now reached 1.3 million euros. And there is no end in sight. The couple estimates they will have to spend the same amount again.
“It’s becoming completely unaffordable,” Leach told the Wall Street Journal. Apparently they approached the matter somewhat naïvely and failed to commission an appraiser to list the necessary work before purchasing.
It was only after the purchase that they realized that the 750-year-old castle is a listed building and that many of the works had to be carried out in the historically correct way, which made each individual construction project significantly more expensive. It was only when they arrived that they began to realize the full extent of the problems. Very naive, it was to be expected that the plumbing and electrical installations of an old castle would have to be replaced. Even though the chateau was visually in good condition and by no means a ruin.
Blind purchase of the property
The way the house was purchased anticipated the coming catastrophe. Leach dreamed of a castle as a little girl. During the pandemic, the couple moved from New York to live with Leach’s parents in California. That’s where the dream of a castle in France came from. Strictly speaking, the parents financed the castle with the sale of their house. Before buying, they saved themselves the flight to France. The castle was bought blind. They hardly spoke French either. Then they realized that not everyone in rural France could speak English.
France
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This is probably the main difference to other “castle rescuers” who do not have immense resources. Dan Preston with the successful YouTube channel “Escape to rural France” is renovating a chateau himself. But he was already working in France and had excellent contacts in the region before he bought a burnt-out ruin. Preston and his friends can do more than just decorate Instagram. They are craftsmen and real workhorses. This keeps costs down. One can assume that the income from social media finances the construction.
Hoped breakthrough
Ibarra and Leach first marketed their castle as a bed and breakfast – but the castle and guests were too much work. And also too intense. The guests not only wanted to experience the castle, but especially the hosts, whom they followed on Instagram. A yoga workshop was well received, but essentially remained a losing proposition. And losses are not just a financial problem. For a permanent visa, the two must each prove an income of over 40,000 euros. The parents benefit from a pensioner visa.
“Life is always really hard… And the romanticized, beautiful things you see on an Instagram feed – it’s always so much work to make them happen,” moans Leach. But in October they offer a five-day “fantasy photo shoot retreat” twice. Luckily, thanks to their presence on YouTube and Instagram, there is never a lack of interested parties; they are completely sold out.
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Source: Stern
