Chit Chat

Singing robot dogs! I liked it! We'll have to see if they can change up the performances so as not to be a one-note act, but it was unique, and I thought it was fun. Again, I'm very 'meh' on the group singing & dancing in sync kind of acts. I'm kind of over magic acts too. This show could be called 'America's Got the Same Old Talent!' The woman singer was really good, so hopefully she'll go far in the competition. Like others, I think it was planned for her to sing a second song.

I went back and checked the episode to make sure I was remembering things correctly! There is a bathroom 3 floors down from the Solar that has sinks & a toilet (no shower). The original main bathroom had the huge marble tub that had to be removed because of the weight. That room was in pretty rough shape after demo (from what I could see). Ian stated that there was no running water going to that bathroom. Daphne mentioned that in the 17th & 18th century, it was customary to have a "bathing chamber." She wanted to recreate that, but sans a toilet so they didn't have to worry about the plumbing. I think she chose that particular room because it was next to King Louis' bedroom, and they hope to restore it as a bridal suite in the future. There is a secret passage from that room into the bathing chamber. She loved having the tub overlooking the garden. They lucked out and found a water heater directly below the bathing chamber, so plumbing for that was fairly simple. I still don't know how they're draining that tub though! From watching their YouTube channel, my impression is that they're trying to make the castle livable while trying to renovate and address some basic things that guests seemed to need. They were seeing a need for the nursery, so they did that room. IIRC, that's for nursing mom's too or ones who need to take a break with their baby or small child. Apparently, the upper floors need extensive repair so they're tackling one room at a time based on what will help the business. They mentioned on their YT channel that in order to heat just one floor of the chateau, it runs about $800/day! It's not feasible to stay in there during the winter. They can't use the fireplaces, or their insurance will cancel them. The top of the Solar was in jeopardy of collapsing, so they had to fix it, and might as well renovate while they're at it!! I thought it turned out lovely! Anyway, that's just my impression from what I've seen. It's fun to watch the YT videos because they give a lot of info like that in the videos.

They did a dedicated nursery in their YouTube videos. Here's the episode where you see the before & after of the Nursery. Daphne is very thoughtful in what she is seeing are guest's needs when they attend an event at the chateau.

Is anyone still watching the show? With the playroom reno, I think that the mistake with ordering the wallpaper actually turned out better by not having it go all the way to the ceiling. I like the way they trimmed it out at the top. Ian is so thoughtful by fixing the music box for Daphne. I've never seen anything like that! I hope the kids won't break the crank on the side of it though. Kids love stuff like that and won't understand how delicate it is. Kids have a knack of wanting to push buttons, turn handles, etc. I've seen kids tear up stuff in the dental office, all while the parent is standing there! No, the chair can't go up to the ceiling! You step out of the room for 30 seconds and all hell breaks loose! Aw crap, you just pulled the light out of the pole! Quit twirling around in the doctor's chair! Quit spraying water with the air/water syringe! All true! Little hellions. 😜

It seems like it would be fairly easy to cap off the well with a fitted piece of wood for a temporary fix to the spiders. For me, it was a toss-up between the dragon house & the collage house. That water feature in the dragon house was hideous!!

Ditto. I FF a lot of the show. The 2 acrobats were really good. I can appreciate the talent it takes to do that. The young guy singing & playing guitar with his mom was good too, but I'm going to need to hear another song or two before I commit! I guess I'm just meh on singers because I look to AGT to showcase other talents. We have enough singing competition shows, so I'm looking for unique talent (other than singing). For me, I would put Darcy Lynne at or near the top of the list on acts that truly surprised me. She was so unique because she sang as a ventriloquist and made it really interesting. So, I look at the AGT acts and it has to pass the "Darcy Lynne" test (as far as originality & skill) for me to be interested! YMMV. I liked the heavy metal band, but I don't think the acoustics in that building helped them. It was too screamy even for heavy metal! Sometimes it's better to dial it back a notch rather than trying so hard to be a particular thing.

From their YouTube channel, they've mentioned that the chateau underwent several restorations over the many years of its existence, so there are varying styles throughout! I think they try to keep things in line with that but also try to be a little more modern where they need to be. They've been able to repurpose some tiles and wood that are in the hangar. It's fun to watch them go "shopping" in their own buildings! I can't remember if they ended up saying how much those renovations ended up costing, but I do remember them doing a lot of the demo & prep, which saved them a lot of money with the contractor. Their kitchen cabinet contractor fell through last minute, so they had to get someone else. I'd imagine that the kitchen remodel might've blown the budget, but they did repurpose some things in there, so maybe it worked out okay!

That and the concrete cave house were so dark inside. I wouldn't like that. I'm concerned with how much mold they're going to find in the house that is literally wall-to-wall carpeting! Carpet on the shelves? What were they thinking when they did that? Yikes!

Watching their YouTube channel, it looks like they're doing a lot of the decorating themselves. They're able to pull things out of storage that they can use. I think they go to antique stores or shows (I think I'm remembering that correctly!) When replacing the curtains in the downstairs area where they host weddings & such, they had a lady who specializes in that to show her samples, etc. and to order from. They've said that whenever there's something they can't do, they bring in someone to make sure it's done correctly. Daphne & Ian do a lot of the heavy lifting though in order to save costs, and they're learning as much as they can from the pros.

I hope the season gets better. I didn't see much in this episode that wowed me. I remember something similar being done in an earlier season and how someone explained it on these forums. The magic sure loses its "wow" factor once you know how it's done!! I'm surprised that the judges are either clueless or they're just good at acting like they're truly stunned after each magic trick. 😁

Thanks for the info! That dress is gorgeous and fits her so well. Is that the dress she tried on at Kleinfelds? I can't remember what it looked like.

I think that Ian and Daphne are such a fun couple to watch during these renovations. They seem to work really well together. They've done some backbreaking work in order to bring the chateau back to life (youth is an advantage for this!!) The huge garden (to one side of the chateau) took a tremendous amount or work in uncovering the outlines and then starting to plant trees. They have big plans for the chateau, but money & getting some things approved is the big issue. Maybe they'll find that rumored hidden treasure! I loved the secret passageway redo that Ian surprised Daphne with. He did a great job with that. Daphne mentioned in her videos how much she liked having weddings there because they get free cake & champagne! I would be happy with that!

Here's a link to one explanation: Castle vs. Chateau Here's another: Castle vs. Chateau From the info this couple have posted on their YouTube channel, they said it used to be a medieval fortress and after it collapsed, the chateau/castle was built on the remains. Royalty has lived there. Also, it was occupied during a war and many original items of the house were taken. They tell the story of the "witch" who lived there and the supposed treasure that's buried at the chateau. They talk about that in a Halloween episode. I hope they will continue to find ways to fund this project. Many of their renovation plans have to be approved by local authorities, and from what they've said, that hasn't been easy either. The story of the chateau: Daphne's story

Maybe the word 'castle' grabs more attention for new viewers than the word 'chateau.' Castle sounds grander than chateau! I don't know which word is technically correct, but going by different definitions, it fits the description of being either a castle or a chateau. Either way, I've been watching their show on YouTube and have been enjoying watching them for a while now.

They built upon her grandfather's existing wedding venue business. They have a YouTube channel, so you can catch up on a lot of stuff from the past 2 years on there. TV shows & movies have used the castle, or rooms of it, to shoot scenes for several years too, so this helps with their income. They have reused many building materials they've found on the property. They're very resourceful on many items! They do so much of the work themselves, and even when a contractor is involved, they'll help with the work in order to save on costs. They're a lot of fun to watch. Their dog and cat make a lot of appearances on their YouTube channel. :) Their YouTube channel is: The Beau Chateau