I believe the owners names are Mo, Larry and Curly

It made it through all those wars. Banish the workers to the French foreign legion! (I'm picturing thirsty dudes in the desert) Is there even such a thing anymore? Rebuild, hardly. It would look like a cheap casino with fake patina. Wonder if Napoleon ever slept there? pity.

Well this construction company was going to make some money. What does it cost to completely rebuild a 140,000 sq. ft. grand manor, using marble, and gold and what have you, 10's of millions. Idiots.

He told them he plans to build an exact replica of lost manor on the site.

To be more accurate, he plans to force the construction company to build an exact replica on the site. This construction company will likely be filing for bankruptcy very shortly as I doubt that the owners can afford to foot the bill to rebuild this chateau without going under. This is not the first some construction company has made a mistake like this, but it probably the most costly one ever made. I would imagine that it will cost tens of millions of dollars, if not over 100 million, to rebuild the chateau. Unfortunately all that they will have is a replica of the historic building and it's architectural details and not the original, which was certainly worth far more. It may be difficult to find the craftsmen needed to recreate some of the architectural details as the skills needed to construct them are not in much demand these days.

@ New gawker

French= effeil tower, arc de triumph, and countless museums

NOT DUMB

I'm guessing this was more like a calculated mistake, Its impossible to get a permit to replace a historic building, its easier to pay off the demolition foreman. Always remember, forgiveness is much easier to get than permission.

In a word, "merde!"

Typical 1% attitude New Gawker , blame the workers for the error . The demolition crew would have an owner and an engineer to oversee this type of job , they are the ones responsible not the peole that did what they were told.

Ken......I see you've been a little yourself.

If they has told the workers in Arabic that the chateau was to be converted to a mosque, this would never have happened.

I agree with Ken Trout...the proof will be in whether or not the owner litigates or writes it off as a "mistake"

I'm not surprised at all.

In the last election, the French public snapped and ran to the Communists so fast, that it would give one whiplash. And the unions don't give a damn what you think about an "oops." Suck it up.

Don't laugh. Your country is heading the same direction = to Hell in a handbasket.

.

Obviously some of you have never worked in construction. It happens all the time when the grunts are left with some unclear instructions and pressured to get a job done in a certain timeframe while the supervisor and contractors are off having a smoke and a beer. Definitely the owners and supervisors fault.

@realitychuck

If that happened to me I would be boiling, I would need to know who screwed up and have them pay, but here the owner basically said "Don't worry, I will just rebuild"????

@Ken Trout -- "forgiveness is easier to get than permission". You must be Catholic.

I agree with Ken Trout. There is no way a "mistake" or "misunderstanding" of that magnitude could have occurred. Renovating a building of that age to bring it up to modern standards would cost much more than building an exterior replica with a modern interior from scratch. The Russian owner directed this "misunderstanding" and promises to replace it so that he gets what he wanted in the first place and looks like a good guy too.

Ken-442680 ---Yes, but that particular contractor might never get work again.

Ken, ITA. And, Annie, I am sure that the contractor wasn't a local one. All the rules and regs that go with owning a historic building can be tedious to billionaire owners, especially ones who have no connection to the history of the area. These new Russian nouveau riche are going hog wild and are a bit on the tacky side.

Mimi Jacques:

I am dubious as to your claim, that the Chateau Bellevue was destroyed at the "whimsy of workers". The owner hired his own crew from Poland.

Perhaps they are spiteful Poles, who hate French 18th Century Chateaux? I highly doubt it.

Code here requires that historical buildings must be renovated by certified French historical renovators.

They are expensive and slow.

The Mayor of Yvrac will litigate, as the owner was only given a permit to renovate.

In this case, going cheaper and faster, will cost the owner. He won't be building anytime soon, as the site has been shut down.

I don't believe it was related to whimsical workers, President Hollande, spite towards the owner, lack of historical appreciation on the part of the French, or the murder of the unfortunate British family, and French cyclist.

I'm more inclined to point to the bottom line, rather than your assertions, as the primary reason.

As to what's happening in Bordeaux? We are drinking wine, feasting on fine food, enjoying the company of our friends and family, and knocking down a shot of Jameson and pint of Guiness at the local Irish bar. Maybe more than a shot or a pint, followed by bangers and mash.

82ND, now that you say that the Russian owner hired his own crew from Poland, it makes me even more suspicious that he didn't do this on purpose. Like someone posted above, he probably wanted to renovate the inside but you cannot change the inside of a historic building without going through a ton of red tape. It was easier just to rip it down, blame the Polish contractor and then rebuild and get what he wants. I bet there is going to be an investigation and it will come out that this was no accident.

blame the Polish contractor

A little bonus on the side for taking the heat.

THIS isn't/wasn't neuro surgery.

LOOK what we have to look forward too, coming to the United States soon.....

MORE empowered and LAZY unions, Socialist attitudes, class war fare

...thanks Barack Insane Obama and all of his mindless, self centered supporters!

It looks rundown... that's why they were supposed to renovate it!

More like Sacre Blew It!

I prefer the English translation of the phrase---both are so right though!

Maybe it was a German company. They're pretty good at destroying French structures.

By the end of the article I started thinking the same thing, Jeff... He came back and probably ran into ANGRY locals and he had to save face, but I think you're right. He had it razed on purpose so he could actually do things to it. "Oops" indeed.

Speculation is not "fact". Google, "wrong house torn down" and you'll find stories about other homes that suffered the same fate. What's sadder is that some owners of historic homes KNOWINGLY, with town or city approval, tear those buildings down, so that they can build a modern home, park their cars, or install a swimming pool. Private property, yes, but part of the fabric of local and collective history as well.

@Nikolaus I know that some cities (not sure if it's city, county, state level etc) have the ability to declare a building a historical landmark. In my hometown any building 100+ years old would qualify. That would place severe limitations on what could be done to the property, no matter who owned it, in terms of moving it, tearing it down, even painting it.

Getting something declared historical was a bit of a pain though since you'd have to restore it to the condition it was in when it was built with appropriate style and whatnot though.

You are right ~ it was probably done on purpose (news helps spread the mis-information). If you are going to publish this, follow-up reporting is required. I am calling BS. Someone go interview the construction foreman (check his accounts). From a casual observer, this looks like a classic insurance scam, Russkie style.

I agree, this was the first thing I thought of. I used to work for a university that wanted to tear down a historical house where one of their academic departments was housed in order to build a new building. The historical landmarks commission wouldn't hear of it. Guess what -- OOPS it was torn down in the middle of the night. We're so sorry, big mistake. Right. On that spot today stands a modern building that houses several university departments. I hate those ACCIDENTAL razings of historic buildings.

. . HISTORY CAN NOT BE RE-BUILT......

I call shenannigans on Mr. absentee Russian owner. He probably added up the costs of renovations and decided it made more sense to bulldoze. The "exact replica" will no doubt look more like the Aaron Spelling mansion.

Perhaps the current owner wanted the old place destroyed. Now he can use insurance money and build a new place with a few conveniences not available in the 18th century like electricity, central heat, indoor plumbing.

Yeah, I didn't at first think that, but when I read the owner instead of saying "I'm going to sue the crap out of those idiots" or at least "I'm going to feed them to siberian tigers" said something like "Don't worry folks, everything will be fine" - that makes it pretty clear.

I was wondering the same thing when I saw your comment!

For me it's fried chickens. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am happy with a plate of that stuff homemade. :)

What is going on in France? This morning MSNBC said they had low sperm count. Now they tear down the wrong house - by accident - on purpose. Those Frenchies - they're kidding us aren't they ?

He hired a Polish crew to do the work. Perhaps he was trying to circumvent the requirement to use certified historical renovators, as they are more expensive and slower.

Raze and rebuild. Cheaper and faster. Perhaps this is a more rational explanation, than low sperm count?

You don't know Shiite about construction.

This is at least a 5 million dollar mistake.

Or not..... how many times are old, million dollar estates torn down in Beverly Hills or the Hamptons just to build new, sprawling estates?

Answer is - all the time.

A $5 million dollar "mistake" is nothing if you're a billionaire.

The article says he was a business man. Not a BILLIONAIRE.

Sounds you have an ax to grind against anyone with money.

Andy, depends on how you define "old" I guess. I'm pretty sure that not a single of those Beverly Hills homes was anywhere near 200+ years old.

Yes, I'm sure the Russian "businessman" is so poor that he can hardly afford to keep the lights on at his multi-million dollar French chateau. I can almost taste his poverty from here. Tragic!

MC - I have no axe to grind at all. Not sure where you got that assumption. However, the fact that this guy can build a perfect replica tells me he's got the dough to spare.

Jeff - I hear ya, but my point is many beauitful homes are often knocked down by their new owners and I was giving Stateside examples. Although the estates in Beverly Hills may not be 200 years old, many of them were from the Golden Age of Hollywood and absolutely gorgeous. The estates in the Hamptons are older and built by the old-school industrialists and often crafted in the style of the European estates. In both cases, people with new wealth are buying some of them up, razing and rebuilding.

Thanatos - the wealth coming out of Russia is pretty remarkable.

Andy, you have it right about Beverly Hills. All those beautiful old homes of the Golden Age of Hollywood have been torn down for those tacky "Mediterranean style" eye sores from out-of-country "new money" people. Many are Persian, Armenian, Russian, etc. Money does NOT buy taste. It's the same out in Pacific Palisades. This incredibly cool mid-century home was torn down to make way for yet another "Mediterranean style" eye sore. The LA Conservancy fought tooth and nail to save this beautiful home but the new owners prevailed and tore the home down. It's just sick. Those "Mediterranean style" homes are just hideous. They just scream "NEW MONEY" and "NO CLASS". Much like the Aaron Spelling mansion.

PValdez. Did you catch my response on the deaths in Libya?

We fired over 20,000 rockets and Missiles setting up a No-fly zone.

They weren't shooting empty cars.

Yes Gusto .....I saw it. I really don't think we killed 100k in Libya buddy....sorry

Estimates in Misrata and zlitan are 15,000 -17,000 casualties.

That's just 2 cities.

Zlitan and Misrata alone the estimates are between 15,000 - 17,000.

That's just 2 cities.

Sirte, Bani Walid and Benghazi all had high death counts as well.

Ajdabiyah and Breag had extremely high death rates

Those missiles were killing plenty of soldiers and quit a few civilians.

Most casualties were black men.

Sorry for posting twice. The first one didn't show until I wrote it again.

140,00 sq ft is possible. It WAS a two-story house...

My old house was over 2700 sq ft. Didn't look like it from the street. The house went waaaay back.

I agree. They added 1 to many zeros.

This one had better go way back. I own and live in a late 1800's office building that is 7200 sq. ft.

Based on the picture and using the car parked in front for scale, it looks to be the same size as my home.

140,000 ? intentional sensational mistake maybe? Cinderella's castle maybe?

14,000 sounds sorta like a stick build, drywall-held wealthy U.S mansion.

Wondering what year it was built.

That's what held the original stones together for so long.

The folks there now just don't seem to have the stones for it in any capacity.

They have those skilled people available.

Well said!