{"id":37789,"date":"2019-03-28T13:22:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T13:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=37789"},"modified":"2019-03-28T13:22:37","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T13:22:37","slug":"this-mansion-cost-64-million-but-a-court-wants-it-demolished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=37789","title":{"rendered":"This mansion cost $64 million, but a court wants it demolished"},"content":{"rendered":"<div readability=\"102.003984899\">\n<div class=\"Authors__component BasicArticle__authors\" readability=\"33\">\n<p>Written by <span class=\"Authors__writer\">Jack Guy<\/span><span class=\"Authors__writer\">Samuel Quashie-Idun, CNN<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>France is famed for the historic chateaus that dot its countryside, but when one man built his very own Renaissance-style mansion in a beautiful corner of the south coast, he caused something of a stir.<\/p>\n<p>A court has ruled that the building is illegal, and the \u20ac57 million ($64 million) Chateau Diter will now have to be knocked down.<\/p>\n<p>Property developer Pierre Diter, who owns the chateau in the town of Grasse, in Southern France, has 18 months to raze the building and faces a fine of \u20ac200,000 ($226,000), Pierre-Jean Gaury, attorney general at the court of appeal in Aix-en-Provence, told CNN.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Patrick Diter was accused of having executed important works on a land without authorization,&#8221; said Gaury. <\/p>\n<div class=\"BasicArticle__image BasicArticle__padLarge\" readability=\"31\">\n<div readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"Image__component\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image__image\" src=\"https:\/\/dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com\/cnn\/e_blur:500,q_auto:low,w_50,c_fit\/http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F190327112405-01-chateau-diter-file-restricted.jpg\" alt=\"Patrick Diter in Grasse.\"><\/div>\n<p>Patrick Diter in Grasse.<!-- --> <span class=\"BasicArticle__credit\">Credit: <\/span><span class=\"BasicArticle__credit\">Philippe Petit\/Paris Match via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Mr. Diter transformed a home that was important because it was on a protected site, and subject to legal regulations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A house previously stood on the site, but Diter built a huge mansion with multiple buildings, a swimming pool and fountains, said Gaury.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Paragraph__component BasicArticle__paragraph BasicArticle__pad\" readability=\"36.7032967033\">\nThe property, set on 17 acres, features 18 suites, two helicopter pads and manicured gardens, according to rental site<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myprivatevillas.com\/luxury\/france\/cote-d-azur\/cannes\/46337\/chateau-diter\" target=\"_blank\">Myprivatevillas<\/a>, which lists Chateau Diter among its offerings.\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;He made it very luxurious,&#8221; Gaury added.<\/p>\n<p>According to a ruling on Monday, an extra \u20ac500 ($565) will be added to the fine for every day beyond the deadline that the chateau remains standing.<\/p>\n<p>One company involved in the building work received a \u20ac200,000 fine, while another was fined \u20ac50,000 ($56,000).<\/p>\n<p>Gaury emphasized that Diter bought the land legally and issues only arose because of what he did with it. <\/p>\n<div class=\"BasicArticle__image BasicArticle__padLarge\" readability=\"31\">\n<div readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"Image__component\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image__image\" src=\"https:\/\/dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com\/cnn\/e_blur:500,q_auto:low,w_50,c_fit\/http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F190327112607-03-chateau-diter-file-restricted.jpg\" alt=\"The luxurious ch\u00e2teau features 18 suites. \"><\/div>\n<p>The luxurious ch\u00e2teau features 18 suites. <!-- --> <span class=\"BasicArticle__credit\">Credit: <\/span><span class=\"BasicArticle__credit\">Philippe Petit\/Paris Match via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In addition to building without permission, Diter also hosted loud parties and events, Gaury said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Neighbors often complained a lot throughout the years,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Paragraph__component BasicArticle__paragraph BasicArticle__pad\" readability=\"36.2362869198\">\nDiter told French magazine<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.parismatch.com\/Actu\/Societe\/Chateau-Diter-Un-chef-d-oeuvre-en-peril-1365467\" target=\"_blank\">Paris Match<\/a> in 2017 that he and his wife, Monica, had been looking for a property in Tuscany, but they eventually decided to build their own Tuscan-style villa in this sought-after corner of the French Riviera.\n<\/div>\n<p>Diter, who has not yet responded to CNN&#8217;s emailed request for comment, now has until March 30 to appeal the decision and take legal proceedings to the supreme court. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Jack GuySamuel Quashie-Idun, CNN France is famed for the historic chateaus that dot its countryside, but when one man built his very own Renaissance-style mansion in a beautiful corner of the south coast, he caused something of a stir. A court has ruled that the building is illegal, and the \u20ac57 million ($64&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":37790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}