ROMANIA/ USA: Dracula's castle in Romania's Transylvania is for sale and expecting to sell for more than one hundred million euro

Romania's 'Dracula's Castle', recently returned to its pro-communist owners, is up for sale. For a hundred million euro, prospective buyers will have the opportunity to take over a property filled with Romanian history. Perched among forests on the foothills of the Carpathian mountains is the Transylvanian medieval fortress known as "Dracula's Castle". Jagged towers and remote surroundings have earned the castle its famous name, by giving it the resemblance of a typical horror film backdrop. Although the fortress was never part of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula", Romania's notorious 15th century ruler Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, whose life inspired the book, may have set foot their briefly. And locals have taken full advantage of this; the castle is now a museum and major tourist attraction in Romania. Stallholders sell Dracula's wine, Vampire Vodka and t-shirts printed with Vlad's menacing grin. But all this could change, with the news that the castle is up for sale. The current owner of the castle, New York- based architect Dominic von Habsburg has decided to sell the castle, along with its surrounding lands. Michael Gardner from Baytree Capital Associates is the man charged with marketing it. "I promised the seller that the Dracula theory, the Dracula thesis, would not be prevalent in the sense of a gory exposition of some sort. The mode and feeling of the castle could be expanded and it's ripe for development, but not in a gory sort of way," Gardner said. Before World War Two, the castle belonged to the former royal family of Habsburg, but they were chased out by the communist regime almost 60 years ago. In 2006, the castle was one of the first significant pieces of real estate to be returned under Romania's property restitution law. Archduke Dominic von Habsburg is heir to 1920's rulers King Ferdinand and Queen Mary. Gardner says von Habsburg would want the castle's new owners to take the castle's history into consideration. "The Archduke is extremely concerned with his relationship, his family's relationship and the castle's relationship with the people of Romania, and particularly the people of the region, of Bran and Brasov. Brasov gave this castle to his grandmother as her residence in 1920. While the owner need not be Romanian, he will object strenuously to anything that would offend Romania," he said. Gardner says the castle is expected to sell for at least one hundred million euros, and there has been a lot of interest from potential buyers in Europe, the Middle East and even Australia. He says the property is well worth the high price tag. "The press has been course on my statement that it will bring at least a hundred million euros. I'll say it again. It's not just a castle, it's the castle and its magnificent surrounding area. Realize you're in a ski area, international airport, twenty somewhat acres now, further restitutions and the rights to those restitutions as part of the sale. The castle itself, which is one of a kind in the world. It's this totally unique property and it's a unique opportunity for someone in the hospitality industry, with vision," Gardner said. Currently, about 450,000 people make the trek to Transylvania to visit the castle, each year.

ITN Source | July 13, 2007

Tags:. .particularly. .museum. .itself. .horror. .acres