Brittany château to sell at €326,000 in auction unless higher bid made

A large château in Brittany located on 14 acres of land, complete with a swimming pool, two basements, a library and two external gîtes, is being sold at auction with the highest bid currently at €326,000.

The Château de Guénanec in Plumelin (Morbihan) was put up for auction on November 25 when the initial offer was made, but bidding on the property will remain open until Monday, December 6.

The owner, Marie-Josèphe Dussolle, who is now in her 70s, bought the château with her husband in 2006 with plans to turn it into a maison d'hôtes and holiday gîtes. The couple set to work restoring the property, particularly sections of the roof, which needed to be completely replaced.

However, in 2014 Mrs Dussolle noted that there was water damage to the property, and so filed a claim with her insurers. The root cause of the problem was not initially found, and the expert sent by the insurance company to carry out the evaluation did not assess the newly installed roof.

It was not until 2017 that the roof was found to be the source of the problem, by which time the damage had spread.

Mrs Dussolle then filed another claim with her insurance, but confusion over the initial date of the 10-year guarantee agreement meant the claim was refused. Mrs Dussolle then turned to lawyers, who launched a legal procedure to determine who is responsible for the damage to the property. The procedure is still ongoing after being delayed by lawyer strikes and the coronavirus pandemic.

Mrs Dussolle told The Connexion that the property has “huge potential”, and that when she bought it the project was a dream for her.

Its initial price at auction was set at €200,000, but she said this is only the case because there is a lot of work to be done on it. She said that she believes it is worth much more. The couple spent between €400,000 to €500,000 on renovations over the years, not including the initial refurbishments made when they first moved in.

The property was nearly sold in 2012 for €1.3million to a buyer who wished to turn it into a holiday village or resort, known as a parc résidentiel de loisirs (PRL) in French. However, the sale fell through at the last minute as the buyer failed to sell their other properties to finance the purchase.

Mrs Dussolle, who has suffered health issues in recent years including being diagnosed with breast cancer, said that she is hoping a higher offer comes in before the deadline.

More details about the property can be found on the website Avoventes, at this link.

Interested buyers have until Monday, December 6, to begin the process, and can contact Marie-Josèphe Dussolle for more information at chateauplumelin5600@gmail.fr or by telephone at +33 6 87 63 61 62.

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