A castle outside Paris once owned by a member of the Rothschild family and, later, the King of Morocco is being shopped around quietly for a staggering €425 million (US$452 million), Mansion Global has learned.
That nine-figure price tag makes Chateau d’Armainvilliers, some 30 miles east of the Eiffel Tower, one of the world’s most expensive homes, according to Ignace Meuwissen, a luxury real estate advisor and co-founder of Whisper Auctions, which specializes in off-market luxury real estate transactions. He is handling the sale of the castle.
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Chateau d’Armainvilliers, which sits on close to 2,500 acres, has a long history, beginning as a medieval stronghold in the 1100s and was later partially destroyed during the French Revolution, according to a brief history of the building on the Rothschild Archive. Notable ownership has included the noble Rochefoucauld Doudeauville family and Edmond de Rothschild, who replaced the castle and bought up additional acreage.
Much of the sprawling home’s current exterior was created during the Rothschilds’ ownership, including “its steeply-pitched roofs and timbering in the upper storeys, bears some resemblance to the English cottage style,” according to the family’s archives.
The Rothschilds sold Chateau d’Armainvilliers to King Hassan II of Morocco in the 1980s, according to Meuwissen.
The last time it changed hands was in 2008, when, following the death of King Hassan II in 1999, his son assumed ownership of the estate and sold it for €200 million, Meuwissen said.
“The property was purchased by an owner from the Middle East but has never been utilized,” Meuwissen said over email. Mansion Global couldn’t identify the owner.
The 100-room chateau boasts three floors with three elevators, five salons, 17 themed bedroom suites and state-of-the-art kitchen facilities. There’s a plethora of amenities across the estate, such as a hairdressing salon, a hammam, a private car park, stables for 50 horses, housing for staff members and 36 various parkland buildings. The chateau still retains much of the Moroccan-themed interior stylings, images show.
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“The property will likely be sold behind the scenes,” said Meuwissen, who intends to share it through his network. “Most properties we sell are on a whispering basis; the properties change owners mostly confidentiality.”
Some potential clients have already expressed interest, “including one from East Europe, three from Asia and one from Mongolia,” he said.
The property “stands out due to its expansive land size and development potential,” Meuwissen said. Occupying a swath of France almost three times the size of New York City’s famous Central Park, the estate could be home to a golf course, apartments, villas and even shopping malls, he said.
Another home on the outskirts of Paris currently holds the title of the world’s most expensive, but would be dethroned if Chateau d’Armainvilliers sold for anywhere close to its asking price.
Chateau Louis XIV, located between Versailles and Marly-le-Roi, sold for more than €275 million in 2015. The owner is reportedly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the heir apparent to the Saudi Arabian throne.
This article originally appeared on Mansion Global.
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