French des-res for sale: 7 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and a bunch of Picassos

A 13th-century chateau up for sale in the south of France has a special feature that will appeal to art buffs—five frescos made by Picasso for an exquisite outdoor loggia of the historic residence. The Château de Castille, located near Uzès, was purchased in 1950 by the late collector Douglas Cooper; Picasso was a regular visitor to the seven-bedroom property in the early 1960s, wining and dining with Cooper and his then partner, the art historian John Richardson. The works, which depict bullfighting and a series of nudes, are classified as historic monuments by the French government. The asking price, according to the Sotheby’s International Realty website, is $9.8m (€8.9m). The sale blurb says that this is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire not only a highly important historic property, but an important piece of art and of art history at the same time” (it is also something of a bargain considering Picasso’s 1935 painting Tête de Femme fetched £18.9m with fees at Sotheby’s London earlier this month).