After a fruitless search for the perfect home in France, Australian couple Karina and Craig Waters had all but given up hope before hearing of Chateau de Gudanes, an 18th century neoclassical mansion built by Parisian architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel. The decaying estate in the tiny town of Chateau Verdun, France had apparently been sitting on the market for four years, previously bought by a a foreign investment company who abandoned the place after their plans to convert it into 17 luxury apartments fell through due to lack of restoration permits. Once the couple snatched up the place, excited to return all 94 rooms to their former glory, they too ran into trouble obtained permission to renovate, even threatening to resell the place should they not be able to begin work. By fall of 2013, though, the couple began both the rebuilding process and a personal website that "shares the story of the past, present and future of Chateau de Gudanes."
As evidenced by the frequent posts and photo updates, the chateau is far from restored—with plenty of peeling century-old paintwork, untouched and long abandoned corridors, and haunting, formerly grand ballrooms. Still, though, the couple feels pretty sure that slow and steady progress will eventually return their project to the fairytale-like home it once was. Follow the progress—and find some epic abandoned building photography—right this way.
· Couple Buy an Abandoned French Chateau, Start a Blog to share their Journey [Messy Nessy Chic]
· Chateau Gudanes [Official site]
· All Abandonment Issues posts [Curbed National]
Loading comments...