This could be interesting. Renovating a 900 yo condemned chateau

[masraum]

Join us as we take on this 900 Year old condemned Chateau (although in the video the guy says the building is from the 15th century) that's one strong wind away from crumbling! With a mix of optimism, determination, And a lot of DIY, We're breathing new life into this forgotten treasure, tackling everything from radiators falling through the floors to hidden secrets in the walls. We're learning (and laughing) as we go, sharing the highs, lows and unexpected challenges of saving a piece of history from the ground up.

"The Château de Pannard or Château de Panard (Le Bas et le Haut-Panard) in Ernée en Mayenne is a farm and a castle located 1,000 m north of the city. "

[LWJ]

Love this. Yesterday walking through Marrakech and saw a plasterer doing an absolute world class job on an earthquake remodel. Made me more than envious of old world craftsmanship.

[recycled sixtie]

Thanks for the post Steve. It reminds me of when I worked in the summer months in two chateaux in 1962 and 1963. The first chateau was the Chateau de Montculot near Dijon. It seems now that it is not lived in. The second one was the Chateau de Montaigne near Bordeaux. The latter is a well known historic site and is also a producer of wines. You can google both and there is lots of information.

Cheers, Guy.

[Tim Hancock]

I have been watching this guy for over a year. He posts a video every weekday. This place had no roofs or floors in it when he started. It actually had large trees growing in it when he first got it. It was destroyed in a fire about 40 years ago. He is making good progress.

[Steve Carlton]

Is this place going to be haunted by some old Frenchman after this is all done?

Looks like a magnificent building!

[GH85Carrera]

Great project, but damn that will be a LOT of work. I redid one small bathroom at my old rent house, and that was weeks of work, and expensive. I can't imagine what it will take to bring that place back to nice and new.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Great project, but damn that will be a LOT of work. I redid one small bathroom at my old rent house, and that was weeks of work, and expensive. I can't imagine what it will take to bring that place back to nice and new.

Kind of like the old saying from years ago, something like "every 911 is a $20,000 car". I suspect every old French Chateau is a $1m home (at least).

[masraum]

They take a stroll through the accessible parts of the chateau in this one. The guy cracks me up.

[ADDvanced]

This series is awesome, I've watched a lot of them. Great to see the slow and steady progress.

[Bill Douglas]

I wouldn't want to do the plumbing. Or electrical for the matter.

[Steve Carlton]

Is there a dungeon?

[KevinP73]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

I have been watching this guy for over a year. He posts a video every weekday. This place had no roofs or floors in it when he started. It actually had large trees growing in it when he first got it. It was destroyed in a fire about 40 years ago. He is making good progress.

Chateau de Chaumont.
Are you familiar with the movie "Fanny's Journey"? Based on the true story of 15 year old Jewish girl, Fanny Ben-Ami, who lead a group of children across Nazi occupied territory to safety in France. The Chateau de Chaumont was the destination for the children in the movie. Currently being rebuilt by Dan Preston. He has interviewed a couple of the orphans who lived in the chateau back in the day.

As much as I would love a chateau in the south of France, or a 900 year old chateau I've settled on a 100+ year old bank building in central Iowa.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

Chateau de Chaumont.
Are you familiar with the movie "Fanny's Journey"? Based on the true story of 15 year old Jewish girl, Fanny Ben-Ami, who lead a group of children across Nazi occupied territory to safety in France. The Chateau de Chaumont was the destination for the children in the movie. Currently being rebuilt by Dan Preston. He has interviewed a couple of the orphans who lived in the chateau back in the day.

As much as I would love a chateau in the south of France, or a 900 year old chateau I've settled on a 100+ year old bank building in central Iowa.

That's cool! I hope/assume it's still got the vault?

[KevinP73]

The vault isn't the traditional bank vault. It's really just a room that once had two big steel doors with a combination dial in the center of each. I've located one door locally and may be able to repatriate it. The second door is long gone. Rumor has it that there is another vault in the basement but I have yet to get in the basement to verify that.

I started a thread on this about a year ago here. Maybe I should update it occasionally.

[john70t]

^Most of that is probably 'saveable'. Superficial. Looks bad in a picture sure.

Gotta look at the bones.. The outside still looks square.
-Fix the roof and drainage first.
-The second might be costly.
-A dumpster or two for drywall and insulation out back. Full masks required.
-A few workers could have that emptied out and ready in a day or two if no other problems.

[john70t]

A decade or two ago they were giving away abandoned European castles for $1-5M.
(just need to assemble an army for the UK taxes.)

There are old houses in Japan countryside for almost nothing.
(good luck gaijin. it takes more than money.)

Detroit was once paying people to buy abandoned houses.
(some were exquisite with unique architecture. from a bygone era.)

[masraum]

Originally Posted by john70t

A decade or two ago they were giving away abandoned European castles for $1-5M.
(just need to assemble an army for the UK taxes.)

There are old houses in Japan countryside for almost nothing.
(good luck gaijin. it takes more than money.)

Detroit was once paying people to buy abandoned houses.
(some were exquisite with unique architecture. from a bygone era.)

I've watched one or two videos from this guy. I'll probably end up watching more.

[dw1]

The Tom Hanks movie "The Money Pit" springs to mind,

and the 1948 Cary Grant comedy film "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House".

[rcooled]

There was a series that ran from 2016 thru 2022 on Britain's Channel 4 called 'Escape to the Chateau' that followed a quirky English couple as they transformed a derelict French chateau into an event destination and their forever home.
A massive amount of work to be sure, but the couple was very resourceful and had the skills to pull it off. The series is available to stream on Peacock.

[KevinP73]

Our federal government has funds available to almost every state to address urban blight. It's is dolled out to the state in the form of a grant. A city can apply for the funds from it's state and then the state has to apply to the feds to get the funds. I some cases enterprising individuals can negotiate with the city directly to have these funds allocated to an old abandoned building for restoration instead of demolition.
Generally speaking restoring an old abandoned building is never a wise investment. I paid very little for my building but it came with many years of unpaid property taxes. The state wouldn't even consider negotiating a compromise on these back taxes.