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 Natalia Vodianova, Johnny Depp, Alsou,
Nicolas Cage, Ronnie Wood from the «Rolling Stones»... Oh, this is just the first
names on the long-long list of celebrities who can be already called the owners
of the European castles. Would you like to join them in this list? Well here is
a textbook from us to you and those who wish to purchase the medieval property.
Step one: Choosing the Country
Let's be honest, you don't quite need to
have a million to buy a castle somewhere in Europe. Well the rumors about
buying the castle for the same price as a small old flat somewhere in the
suburbs of Moscow also aren't the whole truth. It is really not everything that
is called castle that really is one, even if the sales agency argues so. An old
mansion ruins somewhere in the Eastern Europe (mansion ruins, nothing to do
with a castle) would really cost you around a hundred thousand dollars maximum.
While this might be a really romantic spot and purchase it doesn't look very reasonable,
does it? A castle for the price of around one or two hundred thousand dollars
would most likely be a small, hard to reach one and would definitely require a
lot of investments to be made. A price for a real medieval castle somewhere in
Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Serbia or Eastern Germany would be around two
or three hundred thousand dollars. A castle in France, England, Scotland,
Western Germany or Austria would cost you something around five to eight
hundred thousand dollars. And the castles at the Azure Coast or in Switzerland
are being sold for more than a million dollars.
A completely different thing would be
castles with their own history or dynasty stories and it doesn't even matter
then where the castle is located. If only somebody killed, poisoned or stabbed
somebody else to death and now people say there are ghosts living in the
castle, then wow - the price for the property doubles or rises up even more.
For example the supposedly count Dracula's castle in Romania would cost one
more than twenty five million euro.
One can also choose the «dwelling-space»
from the medieval times taking a look at the celebrities. Nicolas Cage is the
owner of the castle in Bavaria (bought it for two million dollars) and also a
castle in England (estimated price is said to be ten million pounds sterling).
Another celebrity - George Clooney - is the owner of several old mansions
somewhere in Italy. British castles are owned by a Russian singer Alsou, the
legendary «Rolling Stones» member, Ronnie Wood, a well-known rapper - Puff
Daddy, a celebrity-singer Madonna, the Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow and
another actress Jillian Anderson. A castle located in the south of France is
owned by the celebrity-couple of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt which the two
bought for sixty million dollars right before the two twins of their were born.
Step Number Two: The Beginning of the
Restoration Process
At this very stage the real reason behind
the natural-born counts and barons rushing in the attempt to get rid of their
family residences for ridiculously low prices is being revealed. First and
foremost in case of the inheritance of a castle a very large tax is to be paid.
Second of all the European Union government demands that any castles or mansion
that represent any, even the smallest amount of, cultural or historical value
are to be restored and maintained in the
appropriate condition. In case of nonobservance a large penalization
takes place and nobody wants that. Therefore not later than a year after the
purchase, the owner is obliged to start the restoration process if he doesn't
want to get fined for the nonobservance. One can always ask the government of
the country the castle is located in for aid and material help and most likely
the government would accept to help financially and usually forty percents of
the expenditure would be covered. In exchange for that however one would have
to deal with tourists since the castle would then be opened for those twenty
four - seven and without any compensation. In addition to that the interiors
would not be allowed to be changed under any circumstances and in the area
opened for tourists you will not be allowed to install no modern canalization
neither to install the telephone cables. Furthermore: any possible restoration
work to be done would have to be done by a company that has a special license
declaring that the company is allowed to carry out restoration processes in the
property with any historical or cultural values and those people usually ask
more for the job to be done than any other companies in the market. A famous
top model Natalia Vodianova loved to tell the stories about how she wanted to
redesign some of the rooms in her husband's (Justin Portman) family castle and
turn them into nursery rooms after her daughter was born. However since the
castle was build in the year 1212 the couple were not allowed to beat a single
nail into the walls without the government permission! In addition to that
every restoration and redesigning process was observed by a medieval
specialist.
Finally Step Number Three: Finding Your
Profits
However, by simply living in such a
monument of architecture would pay for any moral or material expenses made. And
if there is a wish, one can turn their castle into a real tourist attraction
that will, in addition to the fun provided, bring large profits to its owner.
If the castle is big enough and his sizes allow this, then a wing or a part of
it can be used as the area where a café, a hotel or a club can be built. Such
practices are being encouraged by the government itself and therefore can lead
to lowered taxes or even any property or land tax dispensation. This is exactly
what the famous billionaire - Roman Abramovich - wanted to do. It is
well-documented that the oligarch wanted to purchase the «Bran» castle in Transylvania
built by the Teutonic Order knights in the year 1377. According to the legend
this was the castle where the famous prototype of count Dracula - Vlad the
Third Tepes - lived. The Russian billionaire not only wanted to invest into the
restoration of the castle but also was ready and really wanted to create and
manage the building of the tourist's infrastructure around the location to
attract more tourists and to create an attraction park out of the vampire-count
Dracula's tabernacle well described in the book by Bram Stoker. According to
some of the calculations a castle which price was considered to be twenty five
million dollars could have paid off in no more than four years. However the
transaction was canceled due to Roman Abramovich divorce lawsuit and all the
hassle behind it.
So that makes the famous castle vacant for
now. And if you ever would want to purchase property in Europe and would go to
a castle-shopping tour (and such tours are indeed arranged by the companies
dealing with the out-of-town property), then don't forget to visit this castle
in the to-buy property list, since it really is worth it.
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