Fascinating video reveals a rare glimpse inside one of the world’s most EXPENSIVE homes – a stunning $1 BILLION French château that boasts beautiful gardens, a Greek theater, an Indian palace, and art worth millions

A luxury real estate guru has given a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most expensive homes in the world, a French château valued at $1 billion. 

YouTuber Erik Conover, 34, from New York City, traveled to Normandy to tour the lavish Château du Champ de Bataille, which is owned by French architect and interior designer Jacques Garcia. 

The Baroque estate encompasses more than 300 acres of land and consists of six main structures: the château, the gardens, the grotto, the Indian palace, the Greek theater, and the greenhouse. 

Conover explained that he has teamed up with the French real estate brokerage Barnes International to rent out Château du Champ de Bataille, saying it’s ‘nearly impossible’ to put a number on the price value of the estate. 

He noted that Garcia recently declined an ‘undisclosed private offer in the multiple 10-figure range’ to purchase the home.

‘It’s his dream that the doors of the château be open to the world, ensuring that future generations can experience the magic and the mystery of this royal French treasure,’ he said. 

Château du Champ de Bataille, or the Battlefield Castle, was built by political exile Alexandre de Créqui, who laid the first stone in 1651. 

To achieve his vision, de Créqui enlisted the help of royal architect Louis Le Vau, designer of the Palace of Versailles, and Andre Le Notre, the landscaper behind the Gardens of Versailles. 

More than a century after it was built, the château was stormed and the furniture was sold throughout France during the French Revolution. 

The property went through various owners and even served as a field hospital during World War II. 

In 1992, Garcia purchased the run-down château and has dedicated the past 30 years to restoring it and filling it with priceless art that belonged directly to the French royal family. 

The owner is rumored to purchase a new piece of art for the château every day, according to the real estate broker. 

Conover started his tour in the center of the property in the formal gardens, which were overgrown fields when Garcia took over the property. 

When excavating and recreating the grounds, he used the château’s original design plans to ensure they would look exactly as they did almost 400 years ago. 

Garcia began by digging a 550-meter (1,800-foot) canal to feed the network of elaborate fountains and water features on the property. 

Conover said it costs a whopping €20,000 ($21,800) to turn on and run all of the fountains on the property. 

It takes a full-time staff of 15 of the best gardeners in Europe to maintain the elaborate garden designs, including the hedges shaped like chess pieces and squares. 

Conover, who needed a golf cart to tour the grounds, went from the gardens to the nearby Greek theater. The outdoor space was inspired by the ancient Greek temples discovered by archeologists in the 17th century.

On the opposite side of the garden is the Indian palace that Garcia designed using 600 containers of historical antiques. 

‘It looks like we walked into India,’ Conover said.

The ornately decorated property has 10 bedrooms, a library built into the hallway, a hookah lounge, a tiger skin rug, and indoor and outdoor pools. 

As he walked through the Indian palace, he explained that this was the type of home where you could spend a week and still not explore everything. 

Conover added that the outdoor pool is 100 meters (328 feet) long — the size of two Olympic-length swimming pools. 

‘I’m truly speechless. you could have a jet ski in here. That’s how large this is,’ he said. ‘We haven’t even seen the main château yet. This is just one palace on the land.’

His next stop was the estate’s stunning grotto featuring waterfalls cascading down volcanic lava rock. 

The inside is filled with statues of Greek gods with mirrors behind them and petrified wood lining the columns supporting the structure that was designed to mimic a volcano. 

Garcia was said to have come up with the idea for the grotto — the château’s newest addition — when he was ‘bored’ during the pandemic. 

‘I was told that the owner has some pretty crazy parties in here,’ Conover noted. 

The real estate expert then headed over to the massive greenhouse that is covered in tropical plants and boasts a floating bridge with waterfalls on each side. 

Conover said the ferns are 400 years old, nearly the same age as the château. 

There are trees growing through the floor, statues, a wall full of blue vases, and a platform with an aerial view of the breathtaking garden.  

Conover spent the night at the chateau with his team before completing the tour of the château the next day. 

The main property has 40 bedrooms, five living rooms, and two dining rooms. It is so large that they don’t even know the square footage. 

‘We’re only touring one-fourth of this castle,’ he explained, noting that one side of the estate is the owner’s private residence. 

After walking through the entryway and pointing out the stone floors and columns, he headed up the staircase and entered the formal dining room. 

With its 10-meter (30-foot) ceilings and views of the garden to the south and the courtyard to the north, the room was meant for entertaining.  

Conover pointed to four large vases, saying they were gifted to Napoleon by the King of Sweden. 

When he entered the ornate parlor decorated in the 17th-century French Baroque style, he explained that ‘it’s the opposite of minimalism’ 

The walls are covered with paintings, including portraits of Marie Antoinette and her children. The wheelchair used by Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI’s son Louis-Joseph is also on display in the room. 

Off of the parlor is the pool hall featuring an original pool table from Louis XVI, whose doctor prescribed he play pool after eating to help with digestion. 

As Conover walked through each room, he took note of the gold leafing, the artwork, and the paintings on the ceilings. 

‘Every room in the château also has a wood-burning fireplace because back in the day it was the only way you’re going to heat this place,’ he said. 

The castle is a reader’s dream with a two-floor library featuring more than 20,000 rare books, an open catwalk, and a secret door leading to a game room. 

The library also houses voodoo dolls, spell books, and two mummified human bodies from Egypt, which sit in glass cases. 

Conover called one of the hallways the ‘Dead Zoo’ because it was lined with taxidermy animals and fossils. 

Another room of note is the small chapel filled with an altar, religious relics, and pews for worship. 

Conover also went downstairs to the bottom floor to show the 17th-century style kitchen and wine cellar. 

‘This is traditionally what it would [look] like and where the staff would be living,’ he said of the quarters. 

Conover ended the tour by walking through the back door and into the courtyard nestled between the public and private residences. 

‘I want to thank the teams at Barnes International for giving us the opportunity to come out here to Normandy and share something that no one has really seen up until this point,’ he concluded.