Chateau, Home, Vineyard, or All of the Above? Choosing a Chateau Based on Your Desired Purpose

There's a great sense of excitement during the process of choosing your chateau -- and a great deal of stress too, when it comes to narrowing down the seemingly endless options of chateaux, vineyards, and country houses. One of the best ways to start your chateaux-buying process is by narrowing your choices down by region. But once you've done that, there are still usually hundreds of chateaux on the market that could fit the bill.

An excellent way to further narrow your search is by determining what purpose you want to use the property for, and then searching accordingly. For instance, if you are envisioning a small place in the country where you grow a few vines and sip wine with close friends as the sun sets, then an enormous centuries old chateau with 20 outbuildings and a live-in maid is obviously not going to suit your needs. Likewise, if you are looking for that perfect vacation home, then there are some things that you could compromise on -- say, the number of bathrooms or the way the kitchen cabinets open -- that could be deal breakers if you were going to live in the chateaux full-time.

Another key consideration in choosing your france chateau for sale is whether you want an attached vineyard or not and if so, whether you want a working vineyard or a mostly dormant one. For some people, the central building is the main issue, while for others, it's just not a chateaux if it doesn't have a vineyard producing wine every season. Consulting with a viticulturist may be a good way to go here, especially if you are thinking about buying a working vineyard, just so you know exactly what you are getting into.

This is another case where your chateaux sales broker is an indispensable source of information. Once you've decided what exactly you'll want to use the chateau for, they can greatly narrow down their search parameters and only show you applicable properties, which can take a lot of the stress out of your chateau search.

So once you've got your region narrowed down, start to think about purpose. Do you want a vacation home or a full-time residence? Are vineyards a must, or could you do without? Are you actually planning on having a working vineyard? If so, do you want more of a tourist vineyard or are you planning to sell and market your wine and by extension, your chateau's image?

By taking the time to think about what you truly want, you can not only save yourself a lot of time and effort, you can also ensure that you get a chateau that you feel truly and lastingly happy with.