Preferences Preferences To safeguard0
Contact us
Sotheby's International Realty
France - Monaco
Send an email

Preferences

Currency

Find a property in the Principality of Monaco
Sotheby's International Realty

To see our properties worldwide, please visit our website sothebysrealty.com

Sotheby's International Realty
  1. Home
  2. >
  3. Press
  4. >
  5. Wall Street Journal du 3 décembre 2015

Wall Street Journal du 3 décembre 2015

Château de Castille Goes on the Market for $9.66 Million

Share this link

In Provence, the castle’s Picasso murals are classified as historic monuments by the government.

Château de Castille, a castle in Southern France with Picassos etched on its walls, is going on the market for the first time in decades. It is seeking roughly $9.66 million.

The seven-bedroom stone castle was purchased in 1950 by the late Douglas Cooper, an art collector and friend of Picasso, according to Alexander Kraft, chairman and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty France. The famed artist had five of his drawings—including nudes and bullfighting imagery—sandblasted onto walls at the castle, finishing the project in 1963, Mr. Kraft said. The murals, located on a covered outdoor loggia, and other parts of the castle are now classified as historic monuments by the French government, so they can’t be removed or demolished, Mr. Kraft said.

Located in Provence near the town of Uzès, about a 7-hour drive from Paris, the castle was originally built in the 1300s but embellishments were added around 1790. On roughly 5 acres, it has about 6,000 square feet of living space, including two dining rooms and several kitchens. While the castle “definitely needs some updating,” Mr. Kraft said, “structurally it’s quite sound.”

Art historian and Picasso biographer John Richardson, who lived with Mr. Cooper at the Château de Castille for years, said the artist often attended bullfights in the area and was a frequent visitor. “We’d have lunch with Picasso and go to the bullfight together,” Mr. Richardson said.

Picasso installed the drawings after Mr. Cooper expressed admiration for similar murals in Barcelona, Mr. Richardson said.

The castle is owned by the family of Nicolas de Bykhovetz, according to his daughter, Nathalie Benoit. She said the family is selling because now that her parents have died, they don’t use it as much. “We all feel sad, but we have to be reasonable,” she said.

Uzès Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing. 

By Candace Taylor
 

Sotheby's International Realty France & Monaco, your expert in luxury homes, chalets and properties for sale in France
Read more
The latest news
Le Nouvel Economist, November 16th 2023
Read more
Le Nouvel Economist, November 16th 2023

Capped prices, a drop in sales, a decline in demand: this is the current observation in the high-end real estate market, particularly for properties whose value is between 1 and 7 million euros. But in the ultra-luxury segment – ​​where property values ​​are higher...

Read more
Challenges, Novembre 11th 2023
Read more
Challenges, Novembre 11th 2023

  Real estate, the new prices for the 2023 school year. This sometimes criticized sales strategy offers a property, often atypical, from a customer file, without advertising. A test that can hold some pleasant surprises.

Read more
Nouvel Obs, October 24th 2023
Read more
Nouvel Obs, October 24th 2023

Like everywhere, access to property is becoming complicated. But, although transactions are fewer, prices remain high, particularly on the coast. Although the market is no longer as active as in recent years, it remains stable and buyers are present. Check out this...

Read more