Languedoc from €258,000:Two chateaux in the south of France are being converted - one into a hotel, the other into apartments and villas. Kate McMorrowreports

A château in the south of France is beyond the means of the average overseas buyer, so those hankering for a second home with a touch of je ne sais quoi could be seriously smitten by an unusual leaseback development in the Languedoc region.

On offer are sale and leaseback suites in a boutique hotel in a restored château costing from €258,000. It's the latest offering from Dubliner Karl O'Hanlon, a former banker who relocated to the south of France to follow his passion for turning old buildings into smart leaseback schemes.

With the enthusiastic approval of Countess Dominique D'Artois, Garrigae Investissements is restoring her Château de la Redorte to its former elegance, using traditional materials. The end result will be an elegant boutique hotel where visitors can experience château life, without the inconvenience of antique plumbing and drafty rooms. The comptesse will continue to live in a wing of her ancestral home and looks forward to hosting the occasional soirée in the grand drawingroom.

Under the French government-backed leaseback arrangement, buyers make their suites available to the hotel management for most of the year, to avail of Vat-free purchase and a percentage return on their investment. Prices for the properties - being sold here through agent Douglas Newman Good - range from €258,000 for a 51.84sq m (558sq ft) one-bedroom apartment with terrace, up to €580,000 for a top floor suite in the château. A 70sq m (750sq ft) two-bed apartment with terrace costs €352,000. Rental returns are guaranteed over a 20-year period. Returns vary according to owner use.

The château gardens and orangerie are undergoing a sympathetic restoration and there are plans to install a couple of pools. A kids' club is also envisaged. A Mediterranean spa and secret garden will be accessed via a tunnel built in the 18th century by the then count so he could secretly inspect his vines while under temporary house arrest.

Everything will come fitted out in rich hues of gold, green and pink, with expensive château-style furniture and ultra-cool bathrooms. Original features, such as parquet and tiled floors and tall silk-clad windows, will be buffed and dressed to their former glory. Some rooms will have exposed stone walls, others will retain old timbered ceilings. Elegant marble columns and ornate plasterwork will also remain.

The 18th century château stands behind ivy-covered walls in the centre of Redorte, a pretty village bordering the Canal du Midi in the heart of the Minervois region, half an hour's drive from Carcassonne airport. Another 30 minutes takes you to the Mediterranean beaches.

Countess D'Artois's family has lived in the château for seven generations and manuscripts record the château as a renowned venue for grand parties and recitals, notably those of the present countess's great-grandmother, Baroness Brugiere de Gorgot. The effervescent Countess Dominique, who has been an integral part of the project since its conception, is clearly delighted that its halls will once again resound with the music and voices from across Europe.

Under Garrigae's leaseback arrangement, owners will be able to exchange château-time with a holiday in other Garrigae developments, including the prestigious Couvent d'Heripian, the Abbaye de Saint Croix, Les Jardins de Saint Benoit and Residence Rive Gauche in Marseillan. The restoration process will continue until 2010, when owners will collect the keys to their château. ... www.dng.ie