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3 months ago
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A California family who decided to sell up their San Diego home and splurge $2.6 million on a French chateau are now struggling to keep their dream alive.
Julia Leach, 33, and Caroline Ibarra, 37, have been besieged by problems ever since they purchased the stunning Château de Puy Vidal in Charente.
The couple relocated with Julia's parents and sister in hopes of escaping the rat race and renovating the 750-year-old chateau into their dream home.
But no sooner had they been handed the keys, the family were deluged with issues including backed up sewage pipes, heavy storms and even a small earthquake.
They're now struggling to make the castle pay - and could even be deported if they fail to meet minimum income requirements for French visa holders.
Instead of living la vie en rose, 'it was more like crushing responsibility and panic,' Leach told the Wall Street Journal.
A California family who decided to sell up their San Diego home and splurge $2.6 million on a French chateau are now struggling to keep their dream alive
While gorgeous, the chateau has proved to be a money pit that the family are struggling to turn a profit on
And while they offer up the chateau for 'immersive retreats' through their venture Lady of the Chateau, the cost of running the 14,000 square foot property means they are barely breaking even.
A $1 million renovation budget quickly spiraled to $1.5 million, but the couple estimate the true cost will be double that to get the finish they really want.
'It is becoming completely unaffordable,' Leach said. She only discovered post-purchase that the chateau is a historic landmark which must be rebuilt using historically-accurate but expensive methods.
The financial pressures are being compounded by the fact that in two years, the couple's visa will depend on them being able to prove they are each earning €42,406 or roughly $46,800. They are yet to pay themselves a salary.
Things got off to a rocky start on arrival when the full extent of the chateau's plumbing and electrical issues were uncovered.
The family had purchased the property sight unseen in the middle of the pandemic after Leach and Ibarra relocated from New York City to Leach's parents in California.
Realizing they all enjoyed living together, Leach and Ibarra asked her parents if they'd like to sign up for their French chateau dream and were delighted when they accepted.
Eventually, the family all made the decision to sell up their sizeable home in La Jolla for $5.6 million according to Zillow - double the cost of the chateau.
Leach and Ibarra set up an Instagram - The Lady of the Chateau - filled with stunning shots of their tastefully-furnished new home.
But the glossy images bely the state of disrepair and chaos at the chateau. While the couple said they knew the move and renovation would be challenging, the scale of the task facing them has still proved surprising.
The dilapidated structure proved challenging to renovate from the get-go, with the family spending months just trying to find the breaker box before it was eventually discovered, 'in the dungeon'.
Julia Leach, 33, and Caroline Ibarra, 37, have been besieged by problems ever since they purchased the stunning Château de Puy Vidal in Charente
They bought the property for $ 2.6 million two years ago with the intent of running a bed-and-breakfast
The property is set over 14,000 square feet and is an ongoing renovation project which has been hemorrhaging money
The chateau's stunning gardens and ornamental maze are pictured, with the property requiring serious maintenance
Guests enjoy a stylish evening at Château de Puy Vidal, but the glossy image belies a property requiring huge amounts of work and cash
A delightful entryway to the castle. Its new owners only found out the property is listed as historic after buying it - meaning it must be renovated using the same methods it was first constructed with
On top of that they have had to contend with finding a dead owl in one of the chateau's turrets, clogged up pipes and uncovering the remnants of a medieval swimming pool for horses.
The sprawling property features 88 windows, three towers, 17 fireplaces and a garden so large it takes a week to trim.
The situation reached a new low over last winter, which was one of France's rainiest on record and brought crippling floods which kept the family cooped up inside.
The owners initially marketed the chateau as a bed-and-breakfast. Many guests had heard about the chateau through the couple's popular YouTube channel.
But the demands of this quickly became too much and a decision was made to pivot towards offering retreats and workshops.
In June they offered their first aerial yoga workshop, working tirelessly before and after but still only breaking even.
'Life is always really hard…. And the romanticized, beautiful things you see on an Instagram feed—it’s always so much work to make that happen,' Leach explained.
The couple, who worked as camera assistants on TV and film sets in Brooklyn and earned around $100,000-a-year each, also admitted to missing the hustle and bustle of city life.
The couple financed the purchase with the sale of Leach's parents' home in San Diego for $5.6 million
Leach is pictured with her parents outside their old home in San Diego, which they sold to buy the chateau
On arrival, the couple had to contend with terrible weather, backed up septic tanks and even an earthquake
The couple must prove they are each earning $47,000 to be able to stay in France when their visas are up for renewal
Another tasteful room at the castle. Leach and Ibarra hope a series of mammoth bookings scheduled for October will finally put them on firm financial footing
But they remain optimistic about their future, largely thanks to two mammoth bookings in October.
The back to back five day 'fantasy photoshoot retreats' are fully sold out, with all nine guest rooms filled and a waitlist of more than 100 people.
'I think what we’re doing is, in a lot of ways, very American, setting up a new world,' Ibarra said.
English (US)