My French Chateau Story - How I got here
113 Video Views·May 17, 2022
Daphne and Ian have accepted a once in a lifetime opportunity, presented by her grandfather, to move from California to France in hopes to rebuild the many structures on this property and bring the land to its full potential.
This beautiful domain includes a 17th century chateau, with a 500-year-old medieval dungeon, hunters lodge, 18th century farmhouse, 28 horse stables, and a large forest with two lakes.
Most of the structures around the chateau domain need a full restoration, so we are investing everything we have into making the property thrive. We are learning more about french culture and developing new skills along the way. As a UC Berkeley graduate in Agriculture, and a US Air Force Veteran/ Kinesiologist, we share a love for challenges and adventure. We have so much ahead of us, and we are excited to share the experience with you!
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Sometimes the hardest choice and the right choice are one in the same.
I had to choose between the life I had in California and an incredible opportunity in France.
Despite the circumstances, I'm happy to say I've made the right choice.
I am so excited to take on the challenge of renovating and developing this incredible piece of history.
This is just the beginning of our chapter here, and we are so excited to bring you along and share our experience.
My name is Daphne, and this is my chateau.
The Chateau de Lusigny is an old architectural piece that has evolved over the centuries.
The first rendition was built in 1508. It was a medieval fortress with a moat and dungeons.
Then the fortress collapsed, and a renaissance chateau was built in its place.
Different parts of it were kind of changed throughout the centuries,
and so there's aspects that are from the 18th century and the 19th century, like this staircase.
The domain is located 24 kilometers from Paris. It's a little over 100 acres.
In addition to the chateau, the domain has a farmhouse, a hunter's lodge, 28 horse stables,
and some beautiful bodies of water in the forest.
My connection with it started with my papi, my grandfather, when he bought it in 1981.
Having no higher education, my grandfather was a self-made entrepreneur
who worked his way up in the travel industry, creating businesses and growing his wealth.
After a while, he started dreaming of a chateau for his retirement,
and when the opportunity presented itself, he jumped on it.
However, he quickly realized that the chateau was not sustainable
and started renting it out for cinematography and weddings and other events,
and decided to live outside of the chateau, admiring her from afar and calling her his dancer.
So my parents moved to California from Europe before I was born,
but my grandfather always made sure to fly me out for summer vacations
to spend time with him and at the chateau.
My grandfather believed that the inheritance taxes on the chateau would be too expensive,
and so he always encouraged me to pursue my own interests.
After high school, I worked my way up through City College,
got into UC Berkeley, and got a degree in conservation resource studies
with an emphasis in agriculture and community development.
And then went on to work on a couple organic farms
and developed a passion for sustainable living.
But that all changed when my grandfather developed Alzheimer's
and his livelihood was put into jeopardy.
As my grandfather's health started degrading,
the management of the chateau became a huge burden,
and it was getting neglected, so it wasn't long before I was called
and asked to move to France to help out.
And even though I wasn't totally fluent,
and there were a lot of gaps in both culture and communication and expectations,
you know, I made a promise to my grandfather
that he would be able to finish his days here, and I saw it through.
The COVID pandemic of 2020 took a lot of lives,
and my grandfather was one of them.
Soon after, I learned that the chateau was in my name
and that there was a crippling inheritance tax that I could not afford.
I was faced with losing it all, or finding the courage
and preparing myself for a challenge, knowing very well that I might fail.
As much as I wanted to fly back to California to be with my friends
and family and the life I was used to,
I could now see the potential in the chateau,
and I could also see the culmination of my grandfather's hard work.
And I wasn't ready to let that go.
Even though the choice was hard, I could tell it was the right choice.
2021 was a very stressful year.
I wasn't able to hire anyone, so I had to do everything myself,
from fixing the windows to mowing the lawns to answering emails,
doing the marketing, doing the sales visits.
And I learned a lot.
I would say that the worst part about it was that the whole time
my partner was stuck in California, unable to get a visa to come to France.
But I am so happy that Ian is now with me here.
I remember when Daphne and I first started dating.
She was sharing one of her childhood stories
about being at her grandfather's castle in France.
And my reaction was like,
did you just say castle?
Daphne and I actually went to high school together,
but we didn't start dating until after I got out of the military.
We moved in together when I was going to school in Monterey, California.
And that's where I got my bachelor's in kinesiology,
started my path towards physical therapy.
But everything kind of changed when COVID hit.
Being apart last year was really tough.
Not only was I stuck in California,
but Daphne was here trying to figure everything out on her own.
It was rough.
And there were a few times that I legitimately thought
she might lose the chateau.
But we talked about it and she knew the risk involved.
And we came to terms with that.
We knew all she could do was give it her best shot.
And she did.
But amazingly, not only did she do what was necessary,
but last year, she set the highest sales on record for the chateau.
It's a huge relief to be back here with Daphne again.
Not just to help out with the day-to-day tasks,
but French culture is pretty amazing.
We have Paris maybe 30 minutes from our front gate.
And there's an artisanal boulangerie, which is a pastry shop.
And they know me quite well at this point.
We work around the property together.
All we do is dream.
There's so much potential here and the projects are endless.
The problem is, we have to do one thing at a time.
Stay within our budget.
And make sure that we're getting everything done as it should be done.
With respect to the heritage of the building.
We're starting this YouTube channel to share our experiences here at the chateau with you.
We want to bring you with us as we continue working on the never-ending project list
that encompasses the entire domain.
Pressure washing the terrace, which I've done about half of it.
I don't know. Can you tell?
As we set up for the wedding season.
And bring you backstage when they set up a whole movie set on the chateau property.
We have so much more ahead of us and we want to share the whole experience with you.
And thankfully, Ian knows his way around a camera,
so he will be filming and editing all of it.
On our next video, we're going to be giving you a full tour of the chateau.
So please be sure to join us by hitting that subscribe button.
And don't forget to hit the bell icon so you can be notified as soon as we post.
And we thank you for watching.
How do you do this?