Daphne Reckert and Ian Figueira have been hard at work renovating the 500-year-old castle that she inherited from her grandfather, and the process has been a major challenge. But HGTV fans are loving following their progress on Castle Impossible as they've added a bedroom, office, and bathing chamber.
When Daphne and Ian inherited Château de Lésigny, a 133-acre property outside of Paris, they also took on her grandfather's wedding business. Daphne explained that there are always lots of children who attend the weddings, so she wanted to have a special place for them to play. She said, "I want them to leave with magical memories." As a bonus, it will help them sell weddings to potential clients.
They had an existing playroom, but it didn't reflect the rest of the chateau's decor. The space sits on the second floor of the west wing and has beautiful 20-foot-high ceilings. Daphne explains that it was one of the original bedrooms in the property.
The couple had about $12,000 to spend on the space. They took down all of the existing wallcovering and added a mural, fireplace puppet theater, and castle play structure. Ian uncovered an antique music box that Daphne's grandfather gave her and restored it to working condition. Of course, the project wasn't without its challenges. Daphne and Ian found Asian beetles and had a black mold scare, plus they had to deal with wallpaper shortages and customs delays.
Ian's friend Sam visited with his wife and two young children just in time to test out the new space. Ian said, "Their little faces lit up as soon as they stepped in the door. The room just came to life."
HGTV shared a clip from the show on Instagram, and the post was met with emotional comments from fans. One wrote, "The children’s room is so adorable! That fireplace/puppet theater is amazing, the wallpaper is magical, the structure is everything a child could dream of! And Ian’s repair job on the music box surprise for Daphne made me cry. 🥹 Well done all around!" Another commented, "'So it is a time machine!' 🥹I am in tears. This is beautiful." One fan added, "Did Sam make everyone cry? Just me? 💗💗💗"
Only one episode of Castle Impossible remains. Catch up on the whole season on Max.
Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers pop culture news including country music, Yellowstone, and all things HGTV, plus gift guides and product reviews. She has been with Country Living for more than 11 years. Before that, she worked for Southern Living. The Indiana University grad also stitches up the cross-stitch pattern for every issue of the magazine.
