More than 7,400 complete strangers from across the world have clubbed together to buy a historic French chateau to save it from ruin or being razed to the ground by developers.
In what organisers say is the first project of its kind in in the world, a crowdfunding appeal raised more than €500,000 in just 40 days to purchase the 13th-century Chateau de la Mothe-Chandeniers in the west of the country.
The thousands of joint owners who each paid a minimum of €50 are hoping to restore the building to at least some of its former glory and open it to the public.
Each donor will be offered shares in a company set up early next year to run the chateau for an additional €1 for each €50 donated; as co-owners they will have a say in its development and be given the chance to be among its first visitors.
La Mothe-Chandeniers, at Les Trois-Moutiers in the Poitou-Charentes region, about 200 miles south-west of Paris, has a fairytale air with its turrets and moat but has never been officially classified as a historic building.
Its oldest parts were constructed in the early 13th century by its owners, the Bauçay family. It was taken twice by the English in the Middle Ages and was ransacked during the French Revolution. In 1809, it was bought by a rich Parisian businessman, François Hennecart, who restored the building and planted a vineyard in the grounds, but retained much of the original medieval building.
Over the years the property was passed to various descendants, and was inhabited by Baron Edgard Lejeune, who undertook a massive reconstruction in 1870 in a Romantic style, and threw lavish parties in the chateau.
In 1932, shortly after central heating was installed, fire ravaged the building, destroying most of its contents including an entire library of rare books, antique furniture, tapestries and priceless paintings. Firefighters from the region battled to extinguish the fire but could save only the chapel, outbuildings and a pigeon tower. The damage was estimated to run to several million francs at the time.
In 1963, the estate of 2,000 hectares, including 1,200 hectares of forest, was bought by a retired industrialist, Jules Cavroy, before being acquired in 1981 by a former secondary school maths teacher, Marc Deyemer. Deyemer said he was unable to halt the imposing building’s gradual decay despite his best efforts. Since then nature has taken over, with greenery emerging from the stone windows, turrets and balconies.
“I bought the chateau 32 years ago. I killed myself for two years trying to save it with preservation works, but I was sickened when my projects were torpedoed by certain people. I’m tempted to declare it a ruin so it can be destroyed,” Deyemer said five years ago.
Instead, locals mobilised to save the chateau with the help of a private company, Dartagnans, that specialises in raising money to save historic buildings, and the association Adopte un Château.
Dartagnans founder Romain Delaume said the crowdfunding project had captured imaginations across the world and donations were still coming in.
“The idea is not just about raising the money, but getting as many people as possible to participate in saving this magical, fairytale place,” Delaume told the Guardian. “The more the merrier.”
Anyone interested in becoming a part-owner of the chateau has 20 days to make a donation. Another €500,000 is needed for essential work to make the building safe. The property will be overseen by an executive committee that will consult a general assembly of co-owners for decisions.