Courtesy Dartagnans
Abandoned castle: The medieval French chateau of Ebaupinay, in les Deux-Sevres region in western France, has been left to crumble for years as nature has reclaimed the space. Pictured here: Ebaupinay castle.
Courtesy Dartagnans
New life: Now the castle has the chance for a new lease of life. Dartagnans.fr and the association Adopte un château have come together to organize a collective purchase of this slice of French history. Pictured here: Ebaupinay castle.
Courtesy Dartagnans
Collective project: For just €50 anyone can buy a share of the castle, be named an honorary lord and help save the castle from ruin. Pictured here: Ebaupinay castle.
Courtesy Dartagnans
Immersive experience: "This is to create a very immersive saving project and have all the people that will participate come to give a hand and help us restore the castle as if we were in the medieval age, like 500 years ago," Dartagnans founder Romain Delaume tells CNN Travel. Pictured here: Ebaupinay castle.
GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
La Mothe-Chandeniers: This isn't the first romantic French château that Dartagans has helped save. In December 2017, la Mothe-Chandeniers castle was collectively purchased by 27,910 Internet users from 115 countries. Pictured here: La Mothe-Chandeniers pre-restoration
GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Ongoing renovation: "What is great about the Mothe-Chandeniers is we have managed to to do everything we told the people," says Delaume. "So first we opened the domain, now we are going to restore partially the Mothe-Chandeniers, as we are going to invest about €800,000 starting on December 2018 and that will end next June." Pictured here: La Mothe-Chandeniers pre-restoration
Courtesy Dartagnans
Different scenario: But the two projects, Delaume says, are quite different. "Mothe-Chandeniers is a 19th century castle, this one's a 14th, so much more older and our project there it is to rebuild it entirely with medieval techniques and with material that will be produced on site," he explains. Pictured here: Ebaupinay castle.
Courtesy Dartagnans
Successful economic model: "We believe that more than buying only a castle, you also need to develop an economic model to help preservation and to raise more funds to to save this castle," Delaume says. Pictured here: Ebaupinay castle.
Courtesy Dartagnans
Open for business: During the reconstruction phase, Ebaupinay will still be open. "It's going to be an open restoration site -- in which tourists can come to see our people work, from which tourists can go and give a hand," says Delaume. Pictured here: inside Ebaupinay castle.
GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
In danger: There are other châteaux across France that Delaume thinks could get the Dartagnans/Adopte a Château treatment. "In France, for example, there are 600 castles in immediate danger -- meaning that if you don't do anything in the coming months or years, they're just going to disappear forever," he says. Pictured here: La Mothe-Chandeniers pre-restoration
CNN  — 

Ever dreamed of owning a fairy-tale castle in the French countryside? Now you can – and it’ll set you back a mere $58.

A crowdfunding project to restore the medieval French chateau of Ebaupinay, in the Deux-Sevres region of western France, is offering shares in the crumbling landmark in exchange for funds to help rebuilt it.

Organized by startup Dartagnans.fr and restoration association Adopte un chateau, the project will give investors a say in how the castle is rebuilt.

Those investing will also earn the bragging rights of being an unofficial French “lord.”

“This is to create a very immersive saving project and have all the people that will participate come to give a hand and help us restore the castle as if we were in the medieval age, like 500 years ago,” Dartagnans founder Romain Delaume tells CNN Travel.

Second castle

Courtesy Dartagnans
You could part own this fairy-tale French castle, Ebaupinay.

If this project sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the follow-up to Dartagnans and Adopte un Chateau’s successful purchase of Mothe-Chandeniers castle, another crumbling French castle in western France.

In December 2017, an incredible 27,910 Internet users from 115 countries clubbed together to save the castle from ruin and get a say in how it’s transformed.

Delaume says the official purchase papers were signed in March 2018 and many of the people who bought the castle were involved in several weekends of volunteer restoration work earlier this year.

“What is great about the Mothe-Chandeniers is we have managed to to do everything we told the people,” says Delaume. “So first we opened the domain, now we are going to restore partially the Mothe-Chandeniers, as we are going to invest about €800,000 (about $930,000) starting on December 2018 and that will end next June.”

However, because the two castles have very different back stories, the goals of the two restorations aren’t the same.

Medieval recreation

Courtesy Dartagnans
The aim is to conduct a collective purchase of Ebaupinay, pictured.

“L’Ebaupinay, the project is completely different – because Mothe-Chandeniers is a 19th century castle, this one’s a 14th – so much more older and our project there it is to rebuild it entirely with medieval techniques and with material that will be produced on site,” explains Delaume.

Ebaupinay – the name means “white thorn” – was built around the 14th to 15th century in a late Gothic style, by permission of France’s King Charles VII. It was officially classified as a Historic Monument in 1898.

A picture-perfect fortress, it’s got four towers mostly intact despite damage from a fire in the 18th century during an uprising against the French Revolution. There’s even a partially filled moat,

The aim is for L’Ebaupinay to offer an immersive insight into the Middle Ages, allowing visitors to see first-hand what life was like in the period.

GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The project follows in the footsteps of the team's successful purchase of La Mothe-Chandeniers château in France, pictured.

The team hopes to install wood and stone workshops, a blacksmiths forge, stables, a medieval tavern and hostel – and even a fighting arena.

“It’s going to be an open restoration site in which tourists can come to see our people work from which tourists can go and give a hand,” Delaume says.

The team want everyone who has donated money, who they nickname “lords” of the castle, to have the chance to participate in the renovation and medieval recreation.

Once it’s open, it’s hoped the castle will attract 50-60,000 visitors a year.

Successful economic model?

Courtesy Dartagnans
Dartagnans and Adopte un château think they've created a successful economic model. Pictured here: Ebaupinay.

Delaume says the project is not just a publicity stunt but could become a prototype for other restorations.

“We believe that more than buying only a castle, you also need to develop an economic model to help preservation and to raise more funds to to save this castle,” he says.

Delaume believes there are many other castles across France that could get the Dartagnans/Adopte un Chateau treatment.

“In France, for example, there are 600 castles in immediate danger – meaning that if you don’t do anything in the coming months or years, they’re just going to disappear forever,” he says.

Courtesy Dartagnans
The team are also considering purchasing castles elsewhere in the world. Pictured here, a turret in Ebaupinay.

In theory, the concept could go global.

“I know in other countries – for example the UK, Italy, Spain – there’s also very important historical monuments who are crumbling and who are in immediate danger,” says Delaume. “So maybe one day we will try the same concept in other countries than France.”