For most of us the idea of owning a stately home is the stuff of complete fiction.

A fairytale fantasy that will forever be confined to the pages of a storybook, or the thin plot of a Hallmark holiday movie. However, Julia Fulford-Kirby has managed to turn her lifelong dream of owning a castle into a reality.

After a childhood stint living in the UK — during which she developed a love of heritage houses — the Sydney-born artist decided to make it her mission to have one of her own,

“I always dreamed of one day owning a beautiful old mansion — that dream grew to a chateau in France,” Ms Fulford-Kirby said. 

From Cairns to a French Chateau

After calling Cairns home for more than 15 years, and debating her next real estate adventure, Julia decided to look overseas to get more bang for her buck.

“I had been lucky to benefit from property developments on a small scale, which I sold so I could make my move to France,” said Ms Fulford-Kirby.

Originally thinking about purchasing a small farmhouse, the artist and interior designer soon realised that her Aussie dollar would go much further than she initially thought.

“I soon realised that I could purchase the sort of property I had always dreamt of owning — the kind of house I could never be able to afford in Australia, but in France I could.”

Beginning her search in 2017, she spent more than a year scouring the internet for her dream chateau, before compiling a shortlist of properties and travelling to France, with her two sisters, to view them in September 2018.

“We viewed about seventeen,” recalled Ms Fulford-Kirby. “They were all over the country and eventually we found Chateau Mas de Pradie.”

Wow-worthy features

Located in the beautiful Aveyron region of the Midi Pyrenees, Chateau Mas de Pradie was constructed in the mid-1700s on much older foundations. And despite being one of the smallest chateaus she inspected, the wealth of money-can’t-buy features won Julia over.

“What really caught my interest straight away was the potential of the gardens,” said Ms Fulford-Kirby.

“There’s a beautiful walled garden, which was planted long ago, and is filled with a variety of fruit and nut trees — it was like walking into a fairy tale finding this secret, neglected garden!

“The house also had all its original features, such as thick oak floors throughout, marble fireplaces in every room, and original kitchen with stone slab floor.

“The chateau also came with a gorgeous large barn, with 12-metre-high roof, an original guardian cottage and another smaller barn, a chapel with a vaulted ceiling and a well house.”

Bricks and mortar aside, another priceless feature within the grounds of the chateau was the massive standing stones — stones erected thousands of years ago — alongside ancient burial chambers and a cave system under the woods, which contains some of the world’s oldest cave paintings.

In more recent times the chateau was home to famed French painter, Bernard Dufour, who is renowned for his abstract post-World War II paintings.

Eight months after first viewing Chateau Mas de Pradie, Julia settled on the palatial pad for less than the price of a one-bedroom unit in Sydney.

A renovation journey

Now the sole owner of her very own castle, the Aussie faced the mammoth task of renovating the period property single-handedly.

“I tried to do as much as I can, mainly because I enjoy it, but also to save money as trades are very expensive in France,” explained Ms Fulford-Kirby.

“I can now plaster cracked walls, apply wallpaper, and paint and oil floors. I do all the garden work myself, which is a lot of work but I do love being in the gardens.”

Flexing her renovation prowess, Julia was steadily able to renovate and bring the rundown building back to life.  And in the process, her journey was documented by hit TV show, ‘Chateau DIY’  — a spinoff of the Channel 4 ‘Escape to the Chateau’ series.

Now, Chateau Mas de Pradie has become not just Julia’s home, but also a full-time business too — one that involves holiday rentals, B&B rooms, weddings, and a variety of other events.

There’s even studio space for artists and monthly showings of the artists-in-residence works’, in addition to photo festivals and gourmet al fresco dinners.

“My hope from here is to see the business side develop further, to continue developing the property and its gardens and to create a reputation as a magical wedding and events venue,” Ms Fulford-Kirby said.

The realities of a tree change

For cash-strapped Aussies who are setting their sights overseas with the hope of a more wallet-friendly tree change, Julia has some words of wisdom:

“Yes you can buy amazing properties in France for what seems like very little money, but you will need to spend a lot of money on them too.

“For instance, you will need to make your septic system compliant within a year of purchase, and that means the purchase of an entire new system. The same will apply to your electrical and plumbing system.

“Material costs, living costs and taxes are very high in France, our TVA tax — which is like the Australian GST — is 20%, and the social taxes are also very high,” she said.

“The property market historically does not rise in France like it does in Australia, so moving to France is a lifestyle choice, not a commercial one.”

Working in a foreign country with foreign tradespeople will always be challenging and, when your home is also your bread and butter, there’s never any time to slack off when it comes to cleaning and maintenance.

“There is always the pressure to have the property looking its best, lawns mown and neat, pool clean,” explained Ms Fulford-Kirby. “Plus, chateaus being old means there’s always unexpected costs and repairs, so you always need healthy savings for the unexpected.”

Home really is her castle

However, the fact that Julia is the sole owner of an impressive estate, an estate worthy of any king or queen, is adequate compensation for the last four years of hard work and sleepless nights.

“It has been tough, but I’d do it all over again,” said the 59-year-old. “In fact, I wish I did this 20 years ago.

“I love the house, the gardens, creating beautiful spaces and seeing guests enjoy the place. It has been the most worthwhile achievement in my life To live in this beautiful, old building is a daily privilege. I feel so lucky.”