Nothing destined them to live on the banks of the Loire. And yet, since the beginning of September 2024, this young couple has owned a piece of local heritage: a castle in Ingrandes-le-Fresne-sur-Loire, built on the site of a royal glassworks created by Louis XIV, on the former industrial site of Caves de la Bouvraie. Respectively from Meurthe-et-Moselle and the Ardennes, Grégoire, a freelance computer software designer, and Charlotte, a financial auditor, were desperate to leave Nancy to move not far from Angers.
The goal for these two young parents was to get closer to their family and friends. “We were looking for a property with character, ideally a manor or castle, with enormous potential, in which we could carry out work. explains Grégoire. While carrying out their research, the young couple came across an advertisement presenting this castle on the banks of the Loire.
Neither one nor two, Grégoire and Charlotte take a round trip by train to visit him, the latter fulfilling, on paper, all the criteria of the couple. A few days later, even though the castle was the subject of many visits, the couple submitted a purchase offer to the real estate agent. “In this region there are many castles for sale. However, either they are very expensive, often costing more than 500,000 euros, or they have structural problems which require major structural work. The one we spotted was a good compromise: it was healthy, was not infested with dry rot, only required finishing work and the price was attractive.“, he says. Today, the two young people own a castle with an area of 600 square meters of living space, spread over three levels. The property is surrounded by a garden of around 4,500 square meters.It is located in the heart of the city: the train station and the school of our two daughters are located three minutes on foot“, rejoices Grégoire.
Before they settled down and made this castle their main residence, the property was used for events by the Boisset group, owner of Caves de la Bouvraie. “It had not been inhabited for around 50 years. However, the ground floor was habitable“, indicates Grégoire. Conversely, the first and second floors are “in their own juice.”We estimated the work envelope at around 250,000 euros. There are 40 wooden windows to be redone, at 2,000 or 3,000 euros each. With that alone, the work budget is already well underway“, he smiles. The couple will leave the electrical, heating and plumbing work to craftsmen and will pitch in to do the rest. That is to say the insulation, the floors, the walls…
“Once the work is completed, we would like to open four or five guest rooms. The first should see the light of day by summer 2025,” he explains. Priced at nearly 395,000 euros, the property was ultimately sold to the young couple for just under 370,000 euros. “During the negotiation, we also recovered 1,500 square meters of additional land as well as 700 square meters of cellar,” he specifies. Including the work, the couple will have spent 620,000 euros, excluding notary fees, for its acquisition. For comparison, at this price, you can find two to three room apartments in the capital.
