.jpg)
A decade after Escape to the Château first aired, our fascination with French châteaux shows no sign of fading. An obvious reason lies in the name: escape. Before the Channel 4 series arrived, moving-to-France shows were usually daytime fare about retirees buying modest farmhouses. In 2016, Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree introduced the ‘Château Dream’ and the idea that for the price of a semi-detached house in Croydon, you could own a 45-room palace with a moat.
The couple’s adventures became a blueprint for the modern château movement and those wanting more than just a standard mortgage. ‘People were watching at a time when property in the UK was feeling out of reach,’ explains Angel. ‘There’s no doubt there’s an element of escapism but we don’t think that’s the full reason. It represents the idea that you can choose a different path. It shows that it’s not just about keeping up but about creating something special.’
That dream is still in full effect, fuelled by a wave of successful spin-offs, most recently Chateau DIY: Win the Dream, where contestants compete for a French estate worth £250,000. Watching the wannabe châtelains navigate the everyday realities of living in such a grand and historic property is, admittedly, compelling. And when personalities falter, the possibility that something could go wrong at any moment gives the charm its edge.
When it goes right, the transformation is reassuring: We watch for progress but also the possibility that we too might one day escape to the château, an idea that is deceptively attainable. French property portals still list sprawling estates for less than a modest London terrace but what looks like a loophole on paper becomes something else entirely once the keys are handed over — only too often are the hopeful DIY-ers confronted by a roof to replace and hectares to maintain.
‘Looking after a château is a pleasure but also a huge financial burden,’ explains Erin Choa and Jean-Baptiste Gois, who bought Château de Bourneau in 2018. The 30-bedroom property is nestled in the Vendée region of France and cost roughly the price of a London flat. ‘If a window breaks we need to replace a 6 foot pane of glass, and when you have over 100 windows, one night of storms and high winds can leave you quaking.’ The stakes are high, so why do people still take on these castles?
Undoubtedly, ego is involved. Not in an inflated sense; it’s no different to any of us wanting to own property and leave a legacy behind. Supersize that ambition and attach the fantastical component of owning a castle and it begins to tickle a child-like imagination. Christopher Jones and Paloma Quinn Mills, contestants on Chateau DIY: Win the Dream, are proof of how powerful that pull can be: ‘Who doesn’t want to be the Queen or King of their very own castle?!’, says Chris. ‘When the opportunity to compete for a château came, we just knew we couldn’t pass it up. The idea of owning your own piece of history and becoming a custodian to a beautiful property is many people’s dream.’
For Stephanie Jarvis, the dream was inherited. When she was six, her parents embarked on a similar endeavour. They bought an abandoned Edwardian manor house in Suffolk and transformed it into a care home whilst living in the attic. ‘I wasn’t seeking an escape from a conventional path but a continuation of my unconventional childhood, and a life where people surround me every day,’ she recalls. She now co-owns the 40-room Château de Lalande, a 16th-century castle in the Centre-Val de Loire region of northern France, which she purchased with friends in 2005 and which is one of the star-properties Escape to the Chateau: DIY.
Stephanie puts both hers and the viewer’s obsession down to community. ‘Many people feel disconnected from family, from nature, from previous generations,’ she says. For viewers of The Chateau Diaries, the YouTube series she began documenting during the pandemic that essentially saved her château from shutting down, a sense of connection became central. And even having experienced an economic downturn, she believes the financial risk is worth it: ‘Daily reality is waking up surrounded by beauty, with an extraordinary sense of purpose,’ says Stephanie. ‘To succeed, you need to allow yourself to enjoy the idyllic moments in spite of the hardships. Château life is real life, amplified.’
That may explain our continued obsession with the dream. Châtelains don’t abandon domestic life; they amplify it, honing in on rituals of home. There is legacy in it, and community, and a form of escape that feels oddly familiar, even nostalgic. It offers new meaning without requiring a complete rejection of the world we already know. But before buying into the dream, it is worth examining what it truly demands.
-production_digital.jpg)
A guide to realising the château dream
Ask why it’s affordable: ‘There are a couple of common financial misconceptions,’ says Erin. ‘Ask yourself if it is structurally sound or in such a lamentable state that it requires an immediate injection of several hundred thousand to re-roof or make it liveable? Is the location too rural for business to work, or situated on the edge of a motorway or sewage works? Or is there a legal issue with inheritance and access?’
Ask what it takes to make it safe: What does it cost to make the building liveable? Not perfect, but safe. ‘If you can’t heat it, insure it, power it and keep water running reliably, then you’re not buying a home, you’re buying a beautiful ornament,’ advises Dick.
Know that more land is not always better: ‘Find a property that is manageable for your needs, skills or financial ability to outsource maintenance,’ says Jean-Baptiste. ‘You could buy one estate with 10 hectares or another with 100 for the same price, but more is not always better.’
Prepare for potential loneliness: ‘If you are a non-French speaking British city-slicker used to instant access to services, can you handle living in rural France away from your social network?’ asks Jean-Baptiste. ‘I have met ex-pats who found themselves socially isolated and lonely once the buzz of owning a château wears off.’
Plan for a home, a business, or both: ‘You need a plan for how you’ll live in the years between purchase and profit,’ says Angel. ‘If you plan to make it viable through weddings or hospitality, you’re not just moving house. You’re changing careers.’
Don’t underestimate French admin: ‘It took us six months just to complete the sale,’ Erin explains. ‘It is a mind-blowing field of madly pointless papers and slow, inefficient bureaucracy.’ For those without language skills, ‘there are businesses that specialise in ex-pat legal queries and administrative help.’
‘We expected hard work,’ Erin says. ‘But it is also a privilege and joy to live in such a beautiful piece of history. I still get a thrill waking up and looking across the medieval moat through a turret window each morning.’ Admittedly, it does sound dreamy.
-production_digital.jpg)
