Record number of châteaux hit market as aristos sell up

Hundreds of French châteaux have been put on the market as families decide that the ancestral home would be too much of a burden for the next generation. According to Le Figaro, a record number of about 1,500 stately homes are up for sale, and Olivier de Lorgeril, chairman of La Demeure historique, an association of owners, said the number is growing all the time. On the one hand, environmental rules and other bureaucratic initiatives are driving up the cost of maintaining stately homes. On the other, “the younger generations are urban”, de Lorgeril said. “They often want to have international careers and to live in towns and cities.” The Times (£)