A castle in France originally owned by a member of the Rothschild family and subsequently the King of Morocco is being sold for a jaw-dropping price tag of $452 million, as per a report in the New York Post. The house, which is one of the most expensive homes in the world, goes back to the 1100s when it was a medieval fortress called Armainvilliers Castle.
The sprawling mansion is located in Seine-et-Marne, 25 miles from Paris. It has 100 rooms across 2,500 square metres of living space and 1,000 hectares of land, which also includes a private lake. Three lifts, 17 bedroom suites, and numerous Moroccan design elements, such as ornate light fixtures and ceiling decorations, are all included in the main house. The estate consists of 36 buildings with services such as a hair salon, hammam, dental facility, staff accommodation, 50 horse stables, and a parking lot.
Chateau d'Armainvilliers was damaged during the French Revolution, but it was reconstructed in the middle of the 1800s. Edmond de Rothschild bought it in 1877 and expanded the grounds from little under 620 acres to well over 9,700 acres, replacing the old castle with a modern structure, the outlet said.
Following Edmond de Rothschild's death in 1934, the estate was inherited by his son, who subsequently gave it to his son. The heir sold it to the late Moroccan King Hassan II in the 1980s. The King had also created a basement with a massive network of tunnels, servant apartments, kitchens, cold rooms, and storage areas.
Hassan II's son sold the Chateau d'Armainvilliers for 200 million euros in 2008, long after the monarch passed away in 1999, to "an owner from the Middle East" who has never used it, according to Ignace Meuwissen, co-founder of off-market luxury real estate listing expert Whisper Auctions.
Mr Meuwissen, who is handling the sale of the castle, told a Paris-based magazine, "'It is the most expensive castle in France and perhaps in the world. The price of €425million is justified by the property itself but also by the 1,000-hectare land which offers numerous possibilities. An investor could build thousands of apartments there if he wanted." He also added that some clients have already expressed interest, "including one from East Europe, three from Asia and one from Mongolia."
