We’ve all seen those European real estate listings for fairytale-like castles in far-flung places and fantasised about starting a new life—but Karina and Craig Waters (known as chateaugudanes on Instagram) have actually been brave enough to do it. Since embarking on a 12-year-long journey to restore a historic French Château to its grand former self, the couple have not only created a magical life for themselves and their menagerie of animals in the beautiful French Pyrenees but have also been awarded a Medal of Honour from the Prince Louis de Polignac Foundation in recognition of their exceptional restoration so far.

Originally from Perth, Craig and Karina purchased the crumbling 94-bedroom French Château in 2013 after falling in love with French real estate listings online.
“Our property search began when our daughter, Jasmine, spent a month in France with a French friend of the family. Whilst tracking her adventures and journey, advertisements for French real estate began to pop up as suggestions to look at,” Karina explains to Home Beautiful.
“It didn’t take long before the entire family was caught up in the idea, but it seemed more like a far off dream than a real possibility.”
However, as time passed and the children neared the end of their schooling, the family began thinking more seriously about a move.
“Craig did not have many ties to our familial hometown and my mother, the last living member of my birth family, had passed. It was the catalyst for perhaps the first time in our lives thinking what it was that we wanted to do.”
It was then that the family decided to take two trips to France to look at properties.
“Initially, we were only looking for a small farmhouse, ideally without the need for renovations. But when our son, Ben, saw there were châteaux also for sale, the fantasy grew even more.”
What the family weren’t expecting when they started their French property search, was to find a Château designed by royal, French architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel—the principal architect of King Louis XV at the Palace of Versailles and who worked with Queen Marie Antoinette on her personal estate, the Petit Trianon.

Nestled into the spectacular French Pyrenees behind a grand iron gate, the Château de Gudanes may have looked like something out of a fairytale but its interiors told another story. When the couple first visited the property, they were only about to view four rooms out of the home’s ninety-four.
“All of the other areas were inaccessible because of water damage – the floors and ceilings had all caved in…all we could do was peek around the corners to see what was almost all rubble,” explains Karina.
Despite the obvious work that would need to be done, the couple felt an instant connection with the place that would become their future home.
“It was an experience which left us overwhelmed yet inspired at the same time. It was like falling in love with an echo from another time and another place,” Karina recalls. “Reality lost focus and our imaginations took hold.”

But once the couple received the keys, reality quickly set in.
“The first time Karina stayed inside the Château was in the winter of 2014/2015. The Château was only just a shell—the floors, walls and ceilings had been reinstalled but there was nothing else. No electricity, no heating, no water – Karina put up a tent inside one of the rooms to protect herself from the cold,” Craig explains.
And while the couple might have been eager to get started on the restorations, it wasn’t as easy as simply calling a tradesman. Being a Class I Historic Monument (the same historical classification as the Palace of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower) meant that Karina and Craig needed to receive permission from the Historic Monuments of France (a government organisation that must approve all work planned for historically listed properties) before conducting any work on the property.
“The process of her restoration may take a lot more time than the restoration of a differently classified building or another building that is not classified. It takes many months, sometimes years to gather the relevant research and documentation before sending in the final documents for permissions. And then, you may have to wait a significant amount of time to find out whether your plans were approved or not.”

Uncovering layers of the Chateau’s history has certainly been worth the challenges, with Karina and Craig having discovered plenty of the properties secrets along the way.
“When we started the first phase of work, our builders discovered a hole in the ground in the part of the château that was once a Medieval fortress dating back to the 13th century.
“Our builders quickly began excavating the hole. At the moment it, tunnels 6 meters underneath the ground and we are yet to find a proper floor (it does have a vaulted ceiling). We decided to wait until it can be excavated professionally in the future.
“We think that it may have been an escape tunnel to the local village (or possibly an area for grain or water storage). There is a boarded-up doorway on the walls around the Château grounds. Local legend has it that during the War of the Demoiselles, between 1829 and 1832, the then owner of the Château was rolled down a tunnel from the Château to the village in a wooden barrel to protect him from the rebels.”
It’s discoveries like these that have helped Craig and Karina learn to value the rigorous processes involved in restoring a historic building.

“We now understand how important it is not to rush the restoration along, and instead to take the time to really understand the Château’s past and with this understanding move towards the future in the best way possible to hopefully ensure she stands for as many years as she has already stood.”
In fact, Karina and Craig say that the magic is found in the Chateau’s imperfections.
“We have realised that part of the beauty of the experience of being at the Château is living how people in the past would have lived – learning to live by the light of the day and making your way to bed by candlelight in the evening. Existing with a sort of gentleness that can sometimes be lost today. Life does not move fast here, and there is a definite serenity in being disconnected from the rush of the rest of the world.”
This feeling is particularly evident in the Chateau’s wondrous gardens, which Craig and Karina have been slowly rehabilitating since the beginning of 2020.

“I spend much time there contemplating the beauty of the surrounding mountains and planting new trees, which I hope shall remain and grow here for history to come. These new trees are surrounded by centuries-old orchids and pines,” says Karina.
“It is a beautiful way of remembering that within the Château’s walls and its 800 years of history, we are just one family and story here. The Château has lived many lifetimes and has lovingly been a place to call home for centuries of families. We believe that we are just one part of the Château’s story and through gentle stewardship, we hope to preserve the history here for the next generation.”