French chateau for commuters: inside the 14-bedroom mansion just 90 minutes from London at auction for the less than the price of a flat in the capital
Considering cashing in your London flat and moving out of the capital for a bit more space, while still being able to commute to work in less than 90 minutes?
How about taking it to the next level with this 14-bedroom 18th-century French chateau, which is up for auction with a guide price of just under £400,000 — below the average price of a flat in London, which is currently £420,200.
Chateau Holz in northern France is being marketed as arguably the grandest London commuter home for sale at the moment.
Set in over 12 acres in the Pas-de-Calais region, it’s 30 minutes from the Eurostar station at Calais Frethun, from where the train takes 55 minutes to St Pancras International.
If tickets are booked well in advance, this could cost a weekly commuter £3,196 per year. Paris and Brussels are both within three hours’ drive.
An English film producer couple used the chateau as their holiday home for several years, according to La Voix du Nord newspaper.
The house would certainly offer a romantic retreat from working life in London, with its ornate Neoclassical brick and stone façade. It has six shuttered windows on either side of the grand front entrance, a neatly trimmed front hedge and a pretty rose scrambling up the frontage.
Inside are several 18th-century wood-burning marble fireplaces, original flagstone floors and wood panelling.
The sweeping staircase leading from the entrance hall to the second floor is decorated with an iron dragon wrapped around the banister.
The house has been restored and decorated with an elegant combination of period French features — including tapestries, chandeliers, antique chairs and a grand piano — alongside contemporary furniture.
The main formal living space on the ground floor boasts two tall windows and French doors with woodwork painted in chic, neutral eau de nil, leading out to the terrace and garden.
Wooden doors lead into the stylish dining room which opens into the modern kitchen, complete with Aga and island.
There is also a snug TV room on this floor, again featuring tall windows and working fireplace, along with two small bedrooms, a utility room and plant room.
Upstairs are four further bedrooms and an office, all decorated in simple, calming colour schemes with wooden floors and windows galore.
A second set of French doors directly above the entrance opens on to a balcony facing a perfectly positioned, ancient tree. Above it all is abundant attic and loft space, while below ground is a huge, vaulted wine cellar.
A heated indoor swimming pool is in an outbuilding close to the main chateau. There’s also a guest annexe and three smart, renovated brick-built guest cottages with two to three bedrooms each, as well as several more outbuildings, stables and a garage.
The grounds boast a walnut and pear orchard, fields and wildlife pastures.
The Cote d’Opale is close, with clifftop views across the Channel towards Dover, sweeping sand dunes and seaside villages, while multiple nearby historic battlefield sites are a reminder of how the house got its nickname, “The Lucky Chateau”, having survived the French Revolution and both World Wars without a scratch.
The auction started on Thursday September 26, and will run for three more days. Find out more and register your interest here.