Wedded bliss in a royal French château

The Life: Château of Lauzun, a rustic castle in the south-west of France, is up for sale - and it can be yours for £5.4 million.

Château de Lauzun in France, which is on sale for £5.4m. Courtesy Savills
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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have one - and now you can have your very own French château too.

Château de Lauzun, a rustic castle in the south-west of France, has actually played host to real royalty, not just the Hollywood variety.

The château was visited by Henry IV, the first Bourbon king of France, and Catherine de Medici, the 16th-century queen, regent and mother of three kings of France. Now it is up for sale for £5.4 million (Dh29.4m) and it has a very unique feature.

"It's very unusual in that it is actually two châteaux put together," says Jelena Cvjetkovic, of the upmarket estate agency Savills. "They are adjacent but you could say there are two wings."

A five-bedroom medieval château, which has been extensively restored, dates from the 15th century and a second château was constructed in 1570 along the property's eastern perimeter. The so-called Renaissance château was designed to be a statement of the owner's power and wealth, according to Savills.

In addition to a great hall, the Renaissance château also features a king and duke's bedchambers, and two bedrooms which have been converted from a chapel.

The property also boasts a swimming pool and a large two-storey barn, which is currently being used to store classic cars.

"The vendor is also prepared to sell one of his vintage cars [a Bentley or a Rolls-Royce] by separate negotiation," says Ms Cvjetkovic, who suggests the château would be ideal for somebody looking to invest into a wedding venue.

"The main château hasn't got a huge number of bedrooms. You have a barn that you could renovate and get more bedrooms in but it's in a village, which means that there are places for guests potentially to stay," she says.

"A reception room means the venue could operate year-round, but a lawn at the front of the château could be used on a good day for the ceremony."