Castles and Palaces (CnP): Cedric, could you please introduce your family!
Cedric Mignon (CM): We are a French family, a couple and three children, we have decided to leave Paris to settle in Burgundy, to be closer to the chateau and oversee the restoration. Severine Huet de Froberville, my wife and myself Cédric Mignon, have 3 daughters. We all invested our hearts and souls into this. And we are very passionate about this adventure that has become a family project.
CnP: You bought the castle in 2016. A year passed and you got 2 prestigious awards – one from the Vieilles Maisons Françaises and the other one from La Demeure Historique. How did you manage to achieve it?
CM: The castle of Meauce was well known to these organizations (they take care of the national heritage in France). Many articles were written about this castle which was long abandoned. The patrimony associations became involved long before we bought it in order to try to save it though in vain. When we acquired it in 2016, the heritage associations made a pledge to help us and support our efforts starting from the first year of renovation. In France, these associations are important, because beyond the financial aspects which obviously means a lot and is useful for the renovation work, this is mainly a sign of confidence, of encouragement in the adventure that is being launched. It reassured us when we came across the first difficulties and we managed to overcome them with even more confidence.