The back of the Chateau du Bois d'Aix.
The Chateau du Bois d'Aix is situated between Abilly and Descartes and was built in 1909 - 1912 for a French industrialist, Baron Gustave de Ravignan. It replaced a late 16th century chateau on the same site. There are 20 rooms and a number of outbuildings, including a round tower, on more than 20 hectares of park and farmland. When it came up for auction in 2014 a very strong rumour went round that Johnny Depp had bought the place, but this turned out not to be true.
The entrance, through which you can see the chateau, with the swimming pool annex on the left.
Prior to the sale, at the beginning of the 21st century, it had been owned for ten years by a Parisian businessman who was head of a real estate development company. He had undertaken a total renovation, from rooftops to cellars and the property included 14 bedrooms and an indoor swimming pool complex with hamam and jacuzzi. Then in 2011 he went bankrupt and the French State seized the property to cover his 2 million euro debt. The chateau was valued at 2.2 million euros.
Outbuildings.
A horse rider in the grounds.
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11 comments:
Nice Place. Interesting how your brain interprets what your eyes see, I saw it as " the property included 14 bedrooms and an indoor swimming pool complex with harem" !!! Col
Considering the amount of gossip flying about this place, I wouldn't be surprised.
For a 20th century construction, I'm really surprised to see how simple the architecture is. No "new, improved details" as we too often see in similar buildings erected during the mid to late 19th century.
It's an attractive chateau (although someone did refer to the swimming pool annex as a 'carbuncle').
Had a close look back in 2012
https://loirevalleyexperiences.blogspot.com/2012/04/chateau-du-bois-daix.html
Thanks for this -- very nice to see the place close up.
I remember it being for sale at around the time we were looking for a house...…..we bought a lottery ticket!
I also remember the excitement when it was rumoured that Johnny Depp had bought it. However, a sneaky look at the letterbox at the end of the drive dispelled the rumour!
Actually, we think the name on the letterbox is the owner who went bankrupt. No one seems to know who owns it now.
I this doesn't mean that the new owner doesn't get his post!
In the UK it probably would but in France probably not. Our postal delivery lady ("factrice") gives our post to our friends for safekeeping when we're not there. Another of the amazing and wonderful things about life in rural France.
….I hope this doesn't.....
I wonder if it even has a new owner to be honest. Although there was a lot of work being done around the estate. There was a digger parked up by the house, for example.
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