Aaand this is where I totally beg that someone puh-leeeze buy me a castle in Romania… I totally have all the right outfits, I swear. Except it’s like predicted to sell for $135 million. Ouch, right for the jugular. (Oh, c’mon! Thanks Praemedia!) Snippy:
BUCHAREST, Romania – A Habsburg heir is hoping someone will take a bite of his offer
The medieval Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, “Dracula.”
Legend has it that the ruthless Vlad — who earned his nickname because of the way he tortured his enemies — spent one night in the 1400s at the castle.
The Habsburgs formally put the Bran Castle on the market Monday, a U.S.-based investment company said. No selling price was announced.
Bran Castle was built in the 14th century to serve as a fortress to protect against the invading Ottoman Turks. The royal family moved into the castle in the 1920s, living there until the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana in 1948.
After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania, it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as “Dracula’s Castle.”
In May 2006, the castle was returned to Princess Ileana’s son, New York architect Archduke Dominic Habsburg. He pledged to keep it open as a museum until 2009.
Habsburg, 69, offered to sell the castle last year to local authorities for $80 million, but the offer was rejected.
Link.