With all this royal wedding talk, I expect everyone’s been imagining what it’d be like to pick up and move to a European chateau. Well, peasants, your time has come.
Ruth Phillips, an English woman who owns an incredible property in the southwestern part of France, plans to move back to the UK to be closer to family. Rather than simply sell the estate for it’s £1.2 million value, she’s choosing instead to basically raffle it off in the name of fundraising -- a few hundred thousand tickets are being sold for £10 each to enter to win ownership of the estate.
The 350-year-old manor, currently being used for holiday rentals, still retains a lot of its historical properties, like antique furniture and family crests dating back to the 17th century. The property also has ties to World War II; according to Phillips, there’s a crawlspace in the attic that Jewish families used as hideaways.
Besides that, it’s got nine bedrooms, an outdoor swimming pool, a guest cottage with an additional two bedrooms and a casual 34 acres of land, all renovated with central heating and new plumbing and electric.
Feel like moving to Dordogne, France yet?
Profits from the contest are going directly to Phillips’ company, Eco Village Development, which aims to realize her initiative to create more sustainable, affordable housing in the UK.
“It’s a magical place in the middle of the wilderness. You feel like you have fallen into a deep cushion of trees and green,” Phillips told Daily Mail. “I’m really happy that someone else is going to get it and have chance to appreciate it. It’s a magical property -- everyone who comes says that.”
See photos of the chateau in all its glory here.
Daily Mail readers cautioned anyone considering buying a raffle ticket, as they believe it might be a scam. Dailybreak was unable to find out more information on the contest, so if you're thinking about entering, do your research!