Cadastrophic

1824 cadastre of Village and Château of St Ferriol, Aude
More pictures below

Cadastrophic

When Channel 4 first conceived the programme that became Escape to the Château DIY the working title was Château Rescue. It was a good name for the collection of Plucky Brits who took on neglected French castles and, with all our might, tried to breathe life back into them. Here is a little tale of how it is not always what we think matters most, that makes the biggest difference.

I was sitting in the notaire’s ‘bureau’ again. Fascinated as ever by the folders of Actes lining the book shelves in chronological order back to the 18th century. I’d sat there many times since 1996 when our first compromis de vente, a legal document which commits you to a sale (sometimes including clauses and exceptions) had been signed in this office with this notaire.

The Château St Ferriol (www.st-ferriol.com) had been divided and redivided and changed hands many times over the years. The first and main part we initially saw advertised and bought, was sold to us by a village family that had moved to Maury. The South West tower had been seized by tax authorities in lieu of unpaid taxes. Next we acquired a piece of garden and the crumbling East wing from a villager. From another neighbour we purchased a row of sheds built on to the castle’s curtain wall that flanked the length between the East and West towers along the Castles south facing facade. We threw in the ‘jouissance’ of part of the chateau garden, which meant that they could enjoy it but did not own it. On the north side we bought a house stone house, that had been empty since the window that owned it had moved to Carcassonne 30 years ago. It came with a patch of land adjacent to the castle’s garden wall. Later, we sold the house and kept the land. In such a way over some 22 years we had joined up the castle with its original plot.

It seems curious that one castle should have been divided into so many plots. Each had been more or less abandoned Just carved up. That is another story, linked to a cunning plot of Napoleon’s to make sure the aristocracy never rose again, and that inheritance is shared equally between offspring .

I had been to this office when we purchased some forest, planning one day to harvest our own firewood, and for other small parcelles (or plots) that we had bought or exchanged over the years. Sometimes I had been there to hold a friend’s hand while they purchased their own French home. It felt as if I had sat there innumerable times since the beginning of our adventure.

Maitre B, the notary, had become a familiar face. Trade was quiet and I was accustomed to his agreeable chattiness each time documents needed to be signed. He

treated me to discourses on subtle and unsubtle distinctions in terminology, the consequences of local attitudes, fortunes that had been made and lost, what outsiders coming in were doing and buying, and to accounts of his own family’s forays into the world of tourism.

Today I was heavy with regret and a sense of failure as I had come to talk about matters relating to the possible sale of the castle. He had already given me his view on that: ‘Châteaux’ are only stone and should accommodate lives, not the other way round. You have

another child now’, he observed referring to our long wished-for son.

Our Château had always been a labour of love. We didn’t expect to turn our investment into a return. We just intended to live there forever. Enjoying the extravagantly repaired stonework and the spectacular views through the windows that we had unblocked, replaced and glazed.

With thoughts turned to selling, the curious anthropomorphism of the castle tightened its tenacious grip on me. Instead of thinking about how we could get the best price, I was concerned that we find a buyer who would appreciate the work we had achieved and

who would match or exceed exceed or surpass our standards.

Hoping for validation, I said something aloud. I wanted him to reassure me that with all the work we had done, we had surely at least secured a new lease of life for our unique and treasured castle? She was much less of a ruin now.Today she crowned the village gloriously. The roof had been improved. In the South West tower, solid cedar beams replicated the original plafond francais and Architectural drawings to die for. The seven ‘monumental’ fireplaces that had so completely seduced James had been repaired, mullioned windows unblocked, repaired and glazed by artisans, a landscaped garden, the courtyard drained, beautified. The Great Hall, partitioned for a hundred years now restored to the glordy of a double cube chamber with an almost perfect acoustic.

All that!? Hadn’t we given her a chance to be taken up by another pair of enthusiastic nuts like us?. Who will do what it takes to let make the sandstone interiors shimmer in sunlight and the Great Hall chime with enchanted banter. Surely, at least, we had secured a future for her?.

Maitre B looked at me and said ‘there is one thing that you have done that may have saved the chateau.’

What have we done? I thought of all our efforts. The drains, the roof, the garden, the stained glass windows. What can a châteaunaut do to really save a château?

We do what we can. At The Abbey de la Bussiere (https://www.abayedelabussiere.fr/fr/histoire.html ) Clive and Tanith pulled out skips and skips of asbestos and lead; Steve Mack at Château Madame is already the second generation repairing her stonework. Alison and Paul attended courses at the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) to learn how keep the renovation of the long abandoned Château Brametourte authentic ( http://brametourte-test.com/home/weddings/wedding-service-options/gothic-courtyard ). Château Brametourte’s roof discreertly holds solar panels that keep winter and summer costs down. That’s a good way to rescue a château. Save money for the important stuff. Stephanie at Château de Lalande (http://www.chateaudelalande.com/) has saved the jewel-like paintwork and the stained glass of Château de Lalande’s chapel. Fiona has rewired Château Masgelier

(https://www.facebook.com/pg/chateaumasgelier/photos/? ref=page_internal ) and fostered an engagement with the nearby town’s historical society as have Phil and Angelina at Château du Bailleul (https://chateaudubailleul.com/gallery/ ) .

What is it that we Chateaunauts have done that matters the most? I wondered. What is the biggest milestone we have each accomplished to ensure and often reverse the châteaux fortunes, and make them again places for people to come together and celebrate their splendour?

‘You put all those parcelles together,’ the notaire replied.

Yes! I understood immediately. The least expensive and totally obvious! There is no magic formula to rescuing a castle. Every castle has its own history and all the chateaunauts their own particular flairs and flaws.