- In an interview with Collider, Daphne Reckert and her husband, Ian Figueira, revealed how they tackled repairing an inherited French castle in the new HGTV series, Castle Impossible.
- The couple shares how they are paying for expensive repairs, while also dealing with surprises (and maybe a few ghosts) along the way.
- Ian and Daphne reveal how much a single repair will be in the first episode, and the price tag isn’t the only shocking thing.
HGTV’s Castle Impossible star Daphne Reckert may not have had “become a wedding planner” on her Bingo card when she inherited a literal castle nestled in the French countryside, but she also didn’t have to “listen to her husband’s ghost stories” on her radar either. But here they are, dealing with crumbling beams, hosting weddings, and maybe dealing with a few ghosts.
Castle Impossible, which premieres on Tuesday, April 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, follows Daphne and husband Ian Figueira, as they restore Château de Lésigny, a 133-acre property based in France, that features a moat, 28 horse stables, a dove tower, and cabin in the woods, which Daphne inherited from her grandfather. While weddings keep the main floor running, the rest of the estate needs major renovations. From budget constraints to bug infestations and rumored treasure, Daphne and Ian will take on every challenge to breathe new life into the historic property and preserve her family’s legacy. It’s like an HGTV fairytale, rom-com, with a sprinkling of ghost stories all in one!
Becoming Wedding Planners Fund Ian and Daphne’s ‘Castle Impossible’ Dream
Credit HGTV
Daphne tells Collider that she knew inheriting the castle was a possibility, but she never thought she’d be able to afford to take on the project. During the series premiere, viewers will see how dramatically expensive it is to make repairs to the castle.
“The fact that we were able to figure stuff out was an absolute surprise to us,” she shares, adding that the wedding business the couple hosts on the lower levels of the castle and grounds funds the never-ending repairs. Wedding money helps, but she jokes, “Hopefully we’ll have it done within the next 100 years or so.”
Becoming an unofficial wedding planner is now part of the thrill. Thankfully, the couple have a gorgeous space to host the weddings, well away from the renovation zones — though it’s not uncommon for them to show up to a ceremony with a hammer still tucked in a back pocket. “Daphne and I had to run and change real quick out of our overalls and paint-covered clothes and then meet some people who are having to prep for their wedding day,” Ian laughs. “Every once in a while, they’ll come a little early, and they see us like walking back with a bunch of lumber.”
HGTV’s ‘Castle Impossible’ May Be a Little Haunted
When the couple isn’t juggling weekend weddings, they are tackling renovations by exploring every corner of the castle. This means hitting even the creepiest areas, which Ian insists could be haunted. The castle’s dungeon (yes, it has a dungeon), has been the source of at least one spooky encounter.
A skeptic, Daphne says, “I literally have to walk through the dungeon sometimes at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning during weddings, which is, by the way, some of those weddings go till like 4 o’clock in the morning, and I’ve never been spooked out by anything.” Ian disagrees, revealing a spine tingling moment he had in the dungeon.
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“The very first time, I was taking some photos in the dungeon and I thought I heard Daphne walking,” he recalls. “There’s like this long hallway in the dungeon and I very clearly heard her walk down the stairs and start walking down the hallway. And I just nonchalant started talking to her and she wasn’t responding, so I looked in the hallway and you can see all the way across the chateau and there’s no one there. And then I went up outside of the dungeon and I looked and Daphne was like 200 feet away across the yard doing something else, and I was like, I’m alone in the chateau right now.”
‘Castle Impossible’ Can Be a Dangerous Job
Credit HGTV
Despite commissioning engineers and architects to perform several safety checks, the couple say they still encountered some pretty harrowing situations. One such situation arises in the first episode of the series. “We started that job thinking it was just gonna be, basically building up the walls and redoing the floor, kind of like a normal renovation for electricity,” Ian recalls. “But there was a point when we were removing all the joints, and we actually got to see the very top of the bell tower. Tony [the couple’s contractor] was feeling around one of the beams and his hand just went into the beam. That’s when we realized it had been leaking for who knows how many years, and this beam was basically a sponge.”
He continues, “So actually that bell tower was when he realized that he saw that we’ve been doing some work and shifting some of the weight around, he was actually really frightened … he was actually concerned that because of the work he started doing to this rotten pillar was going to come crashing through and the cost of fixing that to be over $200,000.” Unfortunately, risk comes with renovation, something many contractors find during repairs. “Sometimes you don’t notice these things until you start doing the work. That was just the prime example,” he adds.
The season teases to be filled with breathtaking scenery and surprising turns, sprinkled with love and plenty of humor as Daphne and Ian try to turn this Castle Impossible into their lifelong dream.
HGTV’s Castle Impossible premieres on Tuesday, April 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Release Date
April 29, 2025
Network
HGTV
