Surrounded by 26 hectares of secular trees, an adjoining chapel and various outbuildings including an orangery and 4 horse boxes, Lavoisier had the 16th century foundations rebuilt to his taste by the official architect of the French king himself. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier was widely considered as the “father of modern chemistry” and practised his experiments in chemistry and agronomy with his wife, Marie-Anne (who was also an accomplished chemist), on the grounds of the chateau until his arrest in 1794, when the property was seized.

Two hours south of the capital, Chateau de Freschines was once owned by a famous French scientist who was guillotined at the end of the French revolution. “The asking price was huge, there were competing American buyers interested and nobody knew of us in the area”. After nearly losing hope, the unlikely pair eventually bought it with the help of a good friend and benefactor from Sologne, a region near Paris known for its large hunting estates. “But it was a David & Goliath fight,” she says. “We fell in love with the Chateau de Freschines and its park without knowing its history or anything about the previous tenants,” remembers Valerie, a recent graduate in political science who first laid eyes on the property in 2017 with her mother, who was instantly inspired by the unthinkable challenge of leaving their lives behind in Austria to revive a neglected 400 year-old French chateau. Several years later, we’ve found a similar fairytale: an architect from Austria, Elisabeth Herring, and her daughter Valerie, adopt a neglected 16th century French chateau, except in this story, they’ve decided to open up the house to guests as a Bed & Breakfast almost from the very beginning, to be a part of their journey as they bring this sleeping beauty back to life… Rear facade © Chateau de Freschines Details © Chateau de Freschines © Chateau de Freschines Work in progress © Chateau de Freschines Valerie, pictured at the front of the chateau in Spring 2019 © Chateau de Freschines Widespread interest, longing and general FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) ensued on the internet. Anyone who wants to check may call Realtor Lori Wall at 40.Back in 2013, we broke a story about a couple that bought an abandoned chateau and started a blog to share their journey. However, next Friday's viewing might be canceled because a number of bids already have been submitted. People have been coming to impromptu open houses from 10 a.m. 'I thought it would be cool to go on an adventure.'Įlla isn't the only one with that desire. 'I like abandoned places,' said Indiana resident Ella Loucks, 12, whose family was visiting grandparents when she dragged mom and dad to the mansion Sunday morning. In the last several years, the mansion has become a sort of alternative tourism destination for the curious, even though the only interior remnant of the past is tattered red damask draperies in the drawing room.

Zona left behind a house worth less than she owed on it, but still sporting all the charm of the first day the Howey family came to live there. She lived there until her health deteriorated in 2009, then moved to a nursing home in Leesburg where she died in 2015. Chicago heiress Marvel Zona bought the property in 1984 and got swindled in a tangled web of financial transactions that included a reverse mortgage on the place. Howey died of a heart attack in 1938, and his widow lived there until her death in 1981. Among the visitors was former President Calvin Coolidge, who was the guest of honor at an all-male dinner party in February 1930, two years after his host made the first of two unsuccessful bids for Florida governor. (Sentinel file photo)Ĭonstruction took two years. President Calvin Coolidge, center, with citrus baron William J.

Buying abandoned castle