Château de Castille: 13th-century château in the south of France with Picasso frescos on the terrace for sale

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A magnificent seven-bedroom French château with five floor-to-ceiling Picasso murals engraved onto one of the terrace walls has been listed for sale near Uzès in the south of France.

Legendary 20th-century British art historian and collector, Douglas Cooper, bought Château de Castille in 1950 and frequently hosted his friend Pablo Picasso at the castle.

In fact, Picasso was so taken with the property he tried to buy it several times, but Cooper – an early collector and scholar of Cubist art – refused.

Picasso did, however, leave his mark on the 6,000sq ft property.

Cooper had admired a series of Picasso drawings which had been engraved in concrete at the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos in Barcelona.

One year while visiting the chateau, Picasso told Cooper to give him a wall and designed the series of five drawings that would be engraved on the eastern veranda in 1963 by the same artist, Norwegian painter and sculptor – and frequent Picasso collaborator – Carl Nesjar.

Historic monument: the castle has been protected by the French state

The drawings depict scenes inspired by two famous historical artworks – David’s The Rape of the Sabine Women and Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe by Manet.

Given that a Picasso painting sold for $179m in 2015, the murals’ inclusion in the sale could be seen as quite the added value. However they have already been classified, along with other parts of the building, as historic monuments by the French state.

The castle was built on the 13th-century foundations of a fortress by Gabriel Joseph de Froment, Baron de Castille, who was born in Uzès in 1747 and, inspired by his travels in Italy, filled his new castle with columns towards the end of the 18th century.

He survived the French Revolution, despite being arrested during the Terror and was welcomed back by villagers who back-paid rent owed during his imprisonment after he was released.

Historic park: the sprawling château is set in five acres of land

The current owner has added to the opulent, eclectic décor with interiors by American designer Dick Dumas.

There are seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms in the château, two drawing rooms, two dining rooms – one decorated with a 690sq ft fresco of the Arabian Nights by Iraqi painter Naman Hadi for the 1977 wedding of the owner’s daughter – and a kitchen on each floor allowing the storeys to function independently of each other.

The building is set in almost five acres of grounds, which include a historic park with a tree-lined drive, a formal knot garden, central water feature, outbuildings and a staff house.

The property is on the market for 8.9 million euros with Sotheby’s International Realty.

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