State chateau sold for ‘bargain’ €3m
First time government uses private estate agent to sell off national property.
A STATE-owned chateau with 176 bedrooms and 40 hectares of land has sold for a ‘bargain price’ of €3.6 million.
The Château of Nainville-les-Roches, 45km south of Paris, was built for private use but, until a year ago, housed a school for sapeurs-pompiers (fire service) officers.
It is the first time that the state has chosen to sell off one of its properties using a private estate agency - in this case Paris-based Patrice Besse.
Mr Besse said: “I have found a buyer - I can’t give details at present as they want to be discreet, but they are French and the chateau will be used for a business.”
The main building is from the start of the 20th Century, in a Louis XIII style but there are also various smaller buildings in the grounds.
The complex includes an industrial kitchen, a lecture theatre and a gym with changing rooms and squash facilities. There are meeting rooms, including one that is 250m2, a canteen, a bar, classrooms and projection rooms.
Mr Besse said: “The state tried - as they have to for buildings in the Paris area - to put it out for public offers but it did not sell, so they put it out to tender to agencies like mine, which specialise in chateaux, and my presentation dossier for my business was successful.
“I have been selling chateaux for more than 20 years.”
He said other properties on his books included the largest private chateau on the Loire, at Meung-sur-Loire - formerly home to the bishops of Orléans - but also some cheaper offerings, like some “magnificent ruins” for €100,000.
Photo:Patrice Besse
