Can you believe it’s already the final day of our Fantasy Open House week? That went fast, didn’t it? So far the only house the majority of you guys chose to buy is “Sophia’s Harbor.” The vote on “The Artisan” is almost split down the middle, but “Walk Away” is winning at the moment (just barely).
I saved the biggest and most expensive home on the tour for last.
Chateau Torelle was designed and built by Spencer Hill Estate Homes to resemble an authentic French Castle. It has 9,150 square feet and is on the market for $2.45 million. It took us nearly 45 minutes just to walk through it.
It was decorated as if it was the site of a wedding for the day, so you may spot a wedding gown, a wedding cake, and round tables set for the reception. According to the builder, it is “intended for entertaining large crowds” and can accommodate 300 in its massive rooms. (I personally think this is a conservative estimate. The place was huge!)
Well, this is one place you have to see for yourself, so enough yakking and on with the tour!
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- Foyer.
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- Powder room.
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- Living room.
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- Living room set up for a dinner party or wedding reception.
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- Living room.
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- Fireplace mantel in dining room.
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- Hearth room off kitchen.
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- Hearth room off kitchen.
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- Staircase leading to lower level.
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- Poker room.
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- Wine tasting room.
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- Wine tasting room.
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- Lower level has a room just for your teenager’s band to play!
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- Lower-level pub.
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- Part of the “home spa” in the lower level featured this room with a massage table.
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- Hallway leading to master suite.
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- Master bedroom.
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- Master bath.
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- Master bath.
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- Covered porch that runs along the back of the house.
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- Mudroom.
(Note: I found some additional photos, such as the one of the home taken at night at the top of the post, on the MLS listing and at Pulse Journal.)
Did you spot the wedding cake?
This felt more like a boutique hotel than a home to me, but it was still a lot of fun to look at. What did you think? Did you like it or not?
CLICK HERE TO VOTE AND SEE RESULTS SO FAR!
I hope you enjoyed Homearama 2008 as much as I did! It’s so much fun to hear all of your comments about each of the houses, as if we were all walking through them together and dishing about the decor. There were three other houses in the show, so I’ll be posting some of the photos I took in them in the weeks to come.
If You Missed Any Other Posts in the Homearama Fantasy Open House Series:
- Homearama!
- A Fine Room for Fido: It’s a Dog’s Life at Homearama!
- Fantasy Open House #1: The Sanctuary
- Fantasy Open House #2: The Manier Sherridan
- Fantasy Open House #3: The Hampton
- Fantasy Open House #4: Pavan Kunj
- Fantasy Open House #5: Sophia’s Harbor
- Fantasy Open House #6: The Artisan
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Pretty, but just way too much for me. Too hotely. Too ornate. Just too much house. I’d always be looking for the concierge.
Oh my gawd. I want to be a princess and live here please.
Pretty please?
2.45 mil? It would take 98 years at my current salary to afford have the money to buy it. Not to mention the rise in property value… Guess this is just not going to happen for me, huh?
I actually think 2.45 mil is a bargain for this house. Am I crazy?
I love the outside!!! The inside got a bit ornate in areas and dark in areas. Don’t like the dark, it’s in a LOT of these houses,what’s up with the darky-darkness people?!
Lovely series. I think my favorite is the Hampton House – I’ve always been a sucker for New England Beach houses. A shame that it’s over. You’ll have to do another week!
I couldn’t find the cake; I feel like a failure. On the other hand, this house takes the cake! It seems fine for a head of state. In fact, I had to look up the square footage of the White House to see which was bigger. (Answer: the White House at 55,000 sq. ft.) I think any time you feel you need to include a coat check area, you have to assume this isn’t a house for living in.
Craziness. Save it for Ivana.
This reminds me of one of the homes we saw on the Christmas Tour, last year. It’s a beautiful home, but a tad large for the 2 of us!
Thanks for taking us to Homearama!
Pat
It is a gorgeous house! I would love living there with a dozen of my favorite friends!
NOPE just too, I think that sums it up !!
Kathy
If we all go in on it together we could afford it … and there’s enough room that we’d hardly ever see anyone even if we were all home!
It’s what I’ve always dreamed of , a coat check in my “entry turret”
I think my retinas just detached.
Very fantasy for sure, but too too much for me to look at.
Thanks so much for Homeorama! I loved playing along this week.
I Looooooooooove this feature!
why would you want to mess up perfectly good wood floors with tile?
Not my taste I geuss. This is not ‘homey’ to me. I’d vacation there…but wouldn’t want to live there.
I agree with Jennifer on the wood/tile floors. I don’t like the combo. The house is beautiful, but it is way too fancy for me to live there. I don’t think I’d be able to feel comfortable enough to “put my feet on the coffee table.” I’m going to walk away from that one. It is a beautiful location for a wedding or event, though. I’d vacation there, too Jennifer.
Hate the wood floors with tile. This house was too much like a hotel. And what’s with the lion head? At first glance I thought water came out of it’s mouth, then realized it’s just decorative, I think?
Wow – you are right – what a house!
Oh yeah I’ll take it. And get used to propping my feet on that solid gold coffee table too!
The funny thing that came to mind when I saw the ’sports lounge’ area, was what are the odds the owners are ever going to know how to change the channels on all those t.v.s? Or will they forever be turning half of them off because they can’t remember how to adjust the sound on them? Or perhaps that’s the bartender’s job
Started out nice, went downhill from there!
Karla & Karrie
YES. YES I WILL TAKE IT. Minus the floral dining chairs and the hide-a-bed, but other than that, YES. I want it. I want to make small foods and then serve them on very attractive plates to very happy people. I want the bath. I want the murals. I want the castle-ness. YES.
I don’t know why my hatred of wall to wall started, but I think when my parents built a new home when iI was around 16 y.o. – it didn’t have carpet – they bought me and my sister white flokati rugs for our wood floors. wow – what memories – hadn’t even thought of that. After my single apartment years, my husband who shares my hatred and I have never had all carpet at all. with pets = its just cleaner I think. I shouldn’t be so authoritative though, I sound truly obnoxious and know it all!!!!! And I’ve seen your diing room improvements – it looks wonderful.
Joni
Someone said it best ” it is just too”. Makes me glad I have a simple 1800 s.f. house. Maybe I am just grumpy, but I couldn’t even enjoy any of these houses really. They just scream “entitled”.
Janet
PS. But thanks Julia for the hard work and dedication:>)
I think outside of the wood/tile floor combo and the lion’s head, I love all of the finishes and the actual house. However, half of the furniture is g-d-awful!! Who decorated this place?
For the square footage, as someone mentioned, it really is a steal for $2.45M. Something like that would probably be at least $8M down here.
Maybe they should move it. Apparently, Central FL’s millionaire rate has increased 13% in the last couple of years. Build it and they will come…
So ornate and medieval looking– wrought iron in quite a few places. The only thing missing was the Knight in armor. But it is a steal at the price. I was surprised at what 2 and a half million can buy in your area!
Others said it best– and as fun to see as it was, I can’t even imagine living in a place like that!
Do these places actually find buyers??
Mercy, that place is massive. A room to keep your cigars? Wow. I saw all the musical equipment – I wonder if a famous rocker lived here or something.
It has the feel of a museum or something to me – still utterly gorgeous. I’d hate to have to clean it all!
I just found your site and Heavens!, I love it!! Dh thinks I’m odd b/c I just love to look at houses. I’m forever thinking about what I could do to my house–and I have fallen in love with so many!!
As for this one–it feels more like a reception hall/swanky B&B than a ‘home’. Pretty though.
It just seems all to unreal to live in a place like that. It had a corporate feel to me. Maybe its a backlash feeling to all the McMansions that are the rage where I live…I don’t know. These homes are all so big. I just think of the upkeep!
My favorite photo is the turret. wow 40 feet! and the artist did a fabulous job on the mural.
I really love the kitchen in this home, but I was thinking the exact same thing: boutique hotel.
Sign me up for a romantic weekend when it’s fully staffed, Not me living there being the staff cleaning those awful wood and tile floors!
Forget the last house I said I would buy. This is my mcmansion. I would use it as a hotel for guests and build a cottage to live in on the grounds
Beautifully done even though it’s HUGE.
rue
What kind of person gets creeped out by beds? This “Angela” is weird. Cute, but weird.
Love the mosaic floors in the entry hall. Love that some lucky artist got paid handsomely for that entry mural. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS! Otherwise, I would love to have a friend who lives here, but it isn’t for me…except the spa room. Love that–and your comment, too, Julia. You crack me up.
That huge house and what is that a single car garage??
smartin–oh, no, all of these Homearama houses have 4-5 garages. You can only see one of them here. -J
Just found this post. I loved to go to Homearama and even did decorative painting in one of the homes a few years ago. I stopped going in the last year or so because the houses are really getting ridiculous. I thought the trend was down sizing. Guess I missed a memo somewhere. I’m really happy to get to tour the houses here. It is amazing to see what you can do when money is no object. However, I don’t think I would want a lion dribbling over my sink. P.