A moat, secret bar and wallpaper room: Inside the Château de la Motte-Husson from Escape to the Chateau

Dick and Angel Strawbridge are the owners of the 19th-century chateau in Martigné-sur-Mayenne, France, which provides the setting for Channel 4’s popular programme Escape to the Chateau.

However, the show ended in December 2022 after rumours emerged of “a deteriorating relationship between [production company]Two Rivers and Dick and Angel’s Chateau TV for various reasons”. Now, it has been reported that the couple are set to “close” their French castle business, which they saw the building operate as a wedding venue.

In 2015, the couple bought the 45-room 19th century Château de la Motte-Husson for £280,000 and completely transformed it. The property had stood empty for 40 years with no electricity, heating or running water before the purchase.

What is the chateau like inside now?

After lots of renovation and TLC, the property has 45 rooms with vintage interiors, a moat, 12 acres of grounds and even a home for Angel’s parents to live in, too.

The Orangery, a beautiful Art Deco-style outhouse with large glass windows, is rented out by the couple as a wedding venue, and is also where the pair got married during the show’s first series. At the beginning of the series, they completely transformed the neglected building into an idyllic setting for wedding breakfasts and ceremonies.

The property also has a large workshop, in which Dick carries out his many projects during the show. Elsewhere, the chateau has 12 acres of grounds, surrounded by a walled garden.

Within the wild gardens on the property’s land is an indoor “winter garden”, which is a tiled conservatory-style outhouse among the nature in their garden, surrounded by trees, bushes and plants. “The Chateau’s winter garden is a beautiful spot to relax with a coffee on a chilly morning,” wrote the couple on Instagram.

There is a lot of evidence of Angel’s interest in retro furniture and design that has gone into the home’s new look post-renovation. When interior magazine House Beautiful visited the property, journalist Lisa Joyner noted how Dick and Angel like to make it known that it’s their home by displaying a number of painted portraits of themselves throughout the house.

In the main bathroom, there is a restored vintage bath that Angel found on the side of the road and repainted herself to keep the costs of the home’s interiors down during the expensive renovation period.

One room, which Angel calls the “wallpaper room”, has its walls adorned with different cuttings from vintage rolls of Harlequin wallpaper that Angel discovered stored in the chateau’s attic when they moved in.

Within the loft of one part of the chateau is a hidden bar, decorated with vintage velvet bar stools, with views of the French countryside and a telescope for stargazing.

It is unknown if the Strawbridge family will open up the chateau again to the public, but it has been reported that their business venture may have been paused or come to an end following the end of the series. Read more about the Strawbridges’ unconventional marriage here.