A Hungarian castle for the price of a Budapest flat

Buying a Hungarian castle is not a good investment, maybe only on the very long run. As a consequence, it is difficult to find a buyer for them, and there are many for sale, some for the price of a Budapest flat, writes origo.hu. Advertisements offering castles "in need of renovation," are usually for severely dilapidated buildings that are a pale shadow of their former glory.

The cheapest the portal could find is a 311-square-meter, seven-room mansion (kúria) in the northern town of Szalmatercs for Ft 12 million (roughly €49,000). The price includes a wine cellar, and the building is most likely in need of extensive renovations.

One of the cheapest is a 390-square-meter mansion near Nagybajom (Somogy County), which is younger than the average (built in 1905), has a more than two-hectare plot and is on the market for around Ft 20 million (roughly €81,000).

There are around 4,000 castles and mansions in Hungary, 400 of which would be considered a "castle" by European standards. Most of these are in a bad condition. "As they are not historical buildings, they are not valuable, so they were neglected during the past decades," explained László Péchy, assistant chairman of the Hungarian Castles and Mansions Association (Magyar Kastélyok és Kúriák Egyesület).

Most of these buildings used to be homes of families, while larger ones could have been used for representative purposes. After the Second World War, the state confiscated them from their owners with very few exceptions, and they were given to so-called tsz-es (Socialist cooperatives), councils or state institutions. Those that were used as offices or hospitals are in a better condition today. During the political changes at the end of the 1990s, most castles were privatized, and their condition today is either worsening (10 to 15%) or stagnating (50%).

The law on the protection of historic buildings keeps 170 castles under state ownership at all times. Some of these are used by county governments and operate as hospitals. There have been proposals to reduce this number, which Péchy says would be a good decision, as the state is not a good owner, neglecting all buildings except for those that attract large numbers of tourists, such as the palace in Fertőd.

The Treasury Property Directorate (Kincstári Vagyoni Igazgatóság; KVI), has repeatedly tried to sell those properties not belonging to the protected 170 but that are still owned by the state, usually without success. According to the KVI website, a 836-square-meter former Széchenyi castle located in Sopronhorpács and a castle in Szécsény-Benczúrfalva are currently offered for sale.

Some other estates on sale by private individuals include a 350-square-meter mansion built in Classicist style in the 1830s located in Lepsény (Fejér County) and plot that is ten times as large for sale for Ft 35 million (€142,500).

The "oldest mansion in the Alföld," located near Kunszentmiklós, would set a new owner back the same amount. It was built in late Baroque style and has eight rooms.

A 17th-century, 610-square-meter Baroque castle in Veszprém County is somewhat more expensive at Ft 66 million (roughly €270,000). The price includes a 1,926-square-meter plot.

A 280-square-meter mansion in Törökszentmiklós - which is an exception in that it is renovated - has a "large garden" and would cost Ft 55 million (€224,000).

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle