Why we all want to …Escape to the Chateau

There’s something very magical about owning a French chateau. The appeal has endured for centuries but it seems that the hit TV series Escape to the Chateau – now with its own spin-off series – has struck a major chord.
After every airing of the Channel 4 programmes our website sees a deluge of interest, as more of you wonder if the dream of renovating your own chateau, and maybe running it a business, like Dick and Angel, the series’ original super stars is for you. Jane Berry, head of Leggett Prestige, comments: “Our marketing and IT teams were baffled as to why the chateaux pages on our website had sudden spikes in interest each week, until they worked out that they were linked to the TV programmes. Viewers were literally switching off the TV, firing up their ipads and looking at what is available. We have seen a huge jump in website visitor numbers straight after each episode, indeed our dedicated chateau page shows an 800% increase in traffic over the past month compared to the same period last year.”  It’s not just window shopping though – the enquiries are turning into sales, particularly for chateaux that are under one million euros. “Channel 4 is creating quite a niche market in people looking to escape to their very own chateau,” she adds.