AUCTION – May 15, 2011 at 12pm On Site! Originally listed at $6,995,000, this amazing Authentic French Chateau now has an opening bid of just $3.2 Million! Chateau des Thons sits majestically atop a wooded rise overlooking nearly seven private acres of Versailles-like spouting fountains, lush formal gardens and leafy oak groves. The 5-story Chateau was once the luxurious country estate of Voltaire, famed 17th century author of Candide, where he lived with his mistress in the decades before the French Revolution. Acquired in 1927 by multimillionaire financier Ashbel Barney (of Salomon Smith Barney), the Chateau was disassembled with every stone, brick, tile and wood panel being individually marked and numbered, then transported to America via steamship, along with hundreds of master artisans and stone masons from all over France. Each piece of the Chateau was then lovingly reassembled on seven prize acres of Long Island's exclusive North Shore. One of the last of the great Gold Coast estates, the Chateau stands as a superb example of French manorial architecture, a priceless treasure which the French press recently valued at $10,000,000.
Among the chateau's many outstanding architectural
features are: