Jean-François Delort owns the Château de Saint-Martory. He inherited it from his father who bought it in the 1990s.
“A castle is a property that is very expensive in maintenance, in management, and not only in money, but in work too, we give of our person!” It was a childhood dream for his father but this dream is not economically viable. “On the way to holidays in Ariège when he was little, he saw this castle, he says. My father said to himself that one day he would buy it. He did it several years later, but it was a ruin.”
The work of several generations
Jean-François Delort took over the management 22 years ago, and even if the renovations had started before, it is an endless labor: “I still have many years to come but I’m going step by step, to try not to make a mistake.”
For him, managing a castle cannot be improvised, the key is a good business model. One day the lord intends to bequeath to his children an economically viable and even profitable place. “The reward is this incredible place: it is the castle of Sleeping Beauty“, he contemplates.
A place that attracts many French and foreigners like tom. This Scot chose Saint-Martory to celebrate his wedding: “This style of castle is very similar to many castles of the same period in Scotland, it was this Celtic side that attracted me, and then here you have better weather.”
With its 1,200 m² and his 11 bedrooms, the castle can be privatized for a wedding, but also for seminars. Count at least 2,600 euros per night.