Australian family brings historic French castle, Chateau Le Mung, back to life

AN AUSSIE family of eight has sold everything they own and uprooted their entire lives to bring a chateau in France back to life. This is their fairytale fixer-upper.

Aussie family brings decaying castle back to life

ONCE upon a time, a brave prince on a hunting expedition stumbled across a spellbinding hidden castle that had been abandoned for decades.

Intrigued, the prince braved the thick forest of trees, brambles, stinging nettles and thorns to discover the sleeping beauty that lay within.

It’s a familiar fairytale — and an Australian family is living their own version of this story, having packed up their lives and moved to France to revive a rundown 14th-century chateau.

Sher Bromley and her family were looking for “a change of life” when they stumbled across an advertisement that caught their eye. For sale: a 14th-century chateau on a sprawling property in France’s provincial southwest. Bit of a fixer-upper.

Given the family business is gyprocking, they were better equipped than most to tackle the challenge, and they were taken with the idea of restoring a decaying fairytale mansion to its former glory.

“We came across it by accident, and kept coming back to it. Would it be possible to do as a family?” Mrs Bromley said.

An aerial view of the chateau and grounds.

So the whole family uprooted their entire lives, sold everything they owned, pooled their resources and stumped up €2.5 million ($A3.6m) to buy the historic Chateau Le Mung with the view to transform it into a beautiful boutique hotel.

Mrs Bromley, her husband Gerald, their three children Sarah-Jane, Naomi and Jake, their son-in-law Scott and their two grandchildren Cecily and Harry arrived at the property on July 30 and its true potential was finally revealed.

“It’s just beautiful. It’s so romantic. It looks like what a chateau should look like,” Mrs Bromley said.

But in every fairytale the heroes are put through some tough trials, and the Bromleys’ story is no different.

“It was everything we expected until we got inside,” Mrs Bromley said. “It was advertised in much better condition, with a lot of the furniture. It’s been neglected for 20 years. It was quite a shock when we saw it.”

Overgrown … These two run-down lodges will be converted into private residences.

Hidden treasure … A summer house is revealed.

Outside, the three-floor castle, which was built in 1301, was shrouded in trees, brambles and stinging nettles — but the real nightmares lurked inside.

“The bottom floor was the worst. Because they haven’t cut the trees, it was incredibly damp. The panelling was totally rotten, the plaster work blown, ceilings had fallen. The kitchen was in a poor state. Upstairs, the roof was totally ruined, and then there were the bats. In fact, there was a lot of wildlife,” Mrs Bromley said.

But as the family peeled back the layers on the historic building and its 19 outhouses and cottages, they discovered some remarkable hidden treasures.

They found a well, an old cellar and a floor of beautiful, original tiles in good condition; and they were pleased to discover that much of the original structure and battens were sound.

“We’re finding things everywhere. When we were cleaning out a barn, some plaster fell off the window we found a signature; someone had signed their name in 1849. We were very excited about that,” Mrs Bromley said.

One of the building’s stunning staircases.

The sun kisses the chateau’s tower.

The family plans to convert the historic building into a boutique hotel, that can host weddings, functions and weekend holiday-makers. There are also plans to establish a restaurant and a small golf course.

The family has budgeted €1 million for the renovation; much of the funds have been ploughed into hiring machines to clear the overgrowth.

“The brambles are higher than I am, and we need some pretty tough machines to fix that,” she said.

The family hopes to restore the chateau to its original style, with plaster, panelling and pastel colours.

“We will try to modernise but not touch it too much. We want it to feel romantic.”

They will renovate in stages, and hope to open one section with 10 bedrooms, a reception area and a swimming pool in May.

The Bromleys … The Sydney family taking on the mammoth renovation challenge.

The family have documented their progress with a popular page on Facebook.

They set it up to keep family and friends back home updated, but it has since attracted a much wider following.

“There’s been so much interest. Lots of people commenting and giving advice. We are very encouraged that people are appreciating the beauty of this place as well,” Mrs Bromley said.

They have more than 11,000 followers and have even used the social media platform to commission artwork to hang in the hotel.

“We love how Sher and her family have used Facebook to share their experiences and it is a great example of the way Facebook pages can help people connect with others all over the world,” a Facebook spokesman told news.com.au.

The task ahead of the Bromleys is daunting, but for the most part the family dynamic has worked well.

“We’re a very, very close family. We are pretty much good friends. We had the children when we were young, so we were kind of all kids together,” Mrs Bromley said.

“As long as we’ve all got our own space, and can do our own thing, there’s no problems. We have had a few moments when everyone’s tired, but as long as you talk out the problems, everything is OK.”

Fairytale … The tree-lined driveway.

Another beautiful detached building is discovered.

The chateau is next to small village of 260, whose residents are ecstatic that their local landmark is being restored to its former glory.

“The French are really lovely people … The local mayor, who lives just down the road from us, can’t do enough to help us.

“The locals wanted to help as much as they can. We’ll have to have a soiree when we’re done and invite all the neighbours.”

And if you remember your Brothers Grimm, that’s how this fairytale ends.

The brave prince tore away the tall trees, brambles and thorns, woke the sleeping beauty, and, as a consequence, the rest of the castle and its inhabitants sprung back to life.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Sher Bromley prepares to tackle some weeds.

The chateau’s stunning interior.

You can follow the Bromleys’ progress on their Facebook page here.