The restoration of the Chateau de Gudanes
Oh my! I just found this project. It is only tangentially related to Efex but… those of us that like restoring furniture also tend to like restoring all things old, wonderful, historic (pick a word).
What does one do with an 11,000 square foot, 94 room abandoned Chateau? Well this Western Australian family is actually restoring this amazing historic masterpiece, bit by bit.
The Chateau de Gudanes was built in the mid 1700’s. Designed by Parisian architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, famous for his neoclassical designs including Le Petit Trianon and Place de la Concorde. The original owner built this lavish residence to entertain the best of Parisian and Society including Voltere. Amazingly Gudanes escaped destruction during the reign of terror and WWI and WWII.
The couple Karina and Craig Waters purchased the property in 2013, after their son found it on the internet. You’ve gotta love the world-wide web… just amazing.
Their website, blog, Facebook and a drop dead Instragram site allow you to follow their progress.
Sigh…
Looking at the pictures of destruction over time, as well as the amazing antiquities they are finding, will make your head spin. It will give you inspiration and maybe pause at how can something that beautiful be destroyed, and how wonderful that it is being saved.
All pictures from the Chateau de Gudanes website.