That 13th-century castle is located in the Loire. It burned down for the most part in 1932 and then turned into a ruin overgrown with greenery. There are trees everywhere in the castle and the branches grow through the windowless windows.
The monument with crumbling towers is partly in scaffolding and is propped up and supported by wooden beams. The castle still has a moat. Admirers often talk about France’s most romantic ruins.
Nobody saw any future in repair or renovation. Dartagnans did: interested parties could register on the platform, had to buy one or more shares for 79 euros and then all became co-owners of Château de la Mothe-Chandenier. “They come from the United States, Brazil, the Netherlands, Japan, you name it,” says Delaume. “And they range in age from 18 to 90 years.”
In love
Every weekend, co-owners now gather at the castle to get their hands dirty. Cleaning and debris clearing. With shovels, brooms and wheelbarrows they enter the ruins in groups. The real repair work is left to specialists.
“It feels like one big family,” says Frenchman and co-owner Jean-Christophe Lippmann. “Everyone works together and you meet people you don’t know at all. But after a weekend together at the castle it feels like you’ve known each other for years.”
Lippman bought ten shares with his wife. “We were in love with the castle from the beginning, it is so beautiful and so magical. We even moved for it. We lived near Paris and drove back and forth every weekend. Now we have bought a house near here, so that we can go to our castle much more often.”
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