“HGTV’s ‘Castle Impossible’ Tackles “Haunted” French Castle With Never-Ending Repairs”
Abstract
- In an interview with Collider, Daphne Reckert and her husband, Ian Figueira, revealed how they tackled repairing an inherited French citadel within the new HGTV sequence, Citadel Not possible.
- The couple shares how they’re paying for costly repairs, whereas additionally coping with surprises (and possibly a number of ghosts) alongside the way in which.
- Ian and Daphne reveal how a lot a single restore shall be within the first episode, and the worth tag is not the one stunning factor.
HGTV’s Citadel Not possible star Daphne Reckert might not have had “become a wedding planner” on her Bingo card when she inherited a literal citadel nestled within the French countryside, however she additionally did not should “listen to her husband’s ghost stories” on her radar both. However right here they’re, coping with crumbling beams, internet hosting weddings, and possibly coping with a number of ghosts.
Citadel Not possible, which premieres on Tuesday, April 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, follows Daphne and husband Ian Figueira, as they restore Château de Lésigny, a 133-acre property primarily based in France, that includes a moat, 28 horse stables, a dove tower, and cabin within the woods, which Daphne inherited from her grandfather. Whereas weddings preserve the principle ground working, the remainder of the property wants main renovations. From finances constraints to bug infestations and rumored treasure, Daphne and Ian will tackle each problem to breathe new life into the historic property and protect her household’s legacy. It’s like an HGTV fairytale, rom-com, with a sprinkling of ghost tales multi functional!
Changing into Marriage ceremony Planners Fund Ian and Daphne’s ‘Citadel Not possible’ Dream
Daphne tells Collider that she knew inheriting the citadel was a chance, however she by no means thought she’d have the ability to afford to tackle the challenge. Throughout the sequence premiere, viewers will see how dramatically costly it’s to make repairs to the citadel.
“The fact that we were able to figure stuff out was an absolute surprise to us,” she shares, including that the marriage enterprise the couple hosts on the decrease ranges of the citadel and grounds funds the endless repairs. Marriage ceremony cash helps, however she jokes, “Hopefully we’ll have it done within the next 100 years or so.”
Changing into an unofficial marriage ceremony planner is now a part of the joys. Fortunately, the couple have a stunning house to host the weddings, effectively away from the renovation zones — although it’s not unusual for them to indicate as much as a ceremony with a hammer nonetheless tucked in a again pocket. “Daphne and I had to run and change real quick out of our overalls and paint-covered clothes and then meet some people who are having to prep for their wedding day,” Ian laughs. “Every once in a while, they’ll come a little early, and they see us like walking back with a bunch of lumber.”
HGTV’s ‘Citadel Not possible’ Could Be a Little Haunted
When the couple is not juggling weekend weddings, they’re tackling renovations by exploring each nook of the citadel. This implies hitting even the creepiest areas, which Ian insists might be haunted. The citadel’s dungeon (sure, it has a dungeon), has been the supply of a minimum of one spooky encounter.
A skeptic, Daphne says, “I literally have to walk through the dungeon sometimes at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning during weddings, which is, by the way, some of those weddings go till like 4 o’clock in the morning, and I’ve never been spooked out by anything.” Ian disagrees, revealing a backbone tingling second he had within the dungeon.

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“The very first time, I was taking some photos in the dungeon and I thought I heard Daphne walking,” he remembers. “There’s like this long hallway in the dungeon and I very clearly heard her walk down the stairs and start walking down the hallway. And I just nonchalant started talking to her and she wasn’t responding, so I looked in the hallway and you can see all the way across the chateau and there’s no one there. And then I went up outside of the dungeon and I looked and Daphne was like 200 feet away across the yard doing something else, and I was like, I’m alone in the chateau right now.”
‘Citadel Not possible’ Can Be a Harmful Job
Regardless of commissioning engineers and designers to carry out a number of security checks, the couple say they nonetheless encountered some fairly harrowing conditions. One such scenario arises within the first episode of the sequence. “We started that job thinking it was just gonna be, basically building up the walls and redoing the floor, kind of like a normal renovation for electricity,” Ian remembers. “But there was a point when we were removing all the joints, and we actually got to see the very top of the bell tower. Tony [the couple’s contractor] was feeling around one of the beams and his hand just went into the beam. That’s when we realized it had been leaking for who knows how many years, and this beam was basically a sponge.”
He continues, “So actually that bell tower was when he realized that he saw that we’ve been doing some work and shifting some of the weight around, he was actually really frightened … he was actually concerned that because of the work he started doing to this rotten pillar was going to come crashing through and the cost of fixing that to be over $200,000.” Sadly, threat comes with renovation, one thing many contractors discover throughout repairs. “Sometimes you don’t notice these things until you start doing the work. That was just the prime example,” he provides.
The season teases to be full of breathtaking surroundings and stunning turns, sprinkled with love and loads of humor as Daphne and Ian attempt to flip this Citadel Not possible into their lifelong dream.
HGTV’s Citadel Not possible premieres on Tuesday, April 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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