Mansion once belonging to Karl Lagerfeld is up for sale — and it’s cheaper than you might expect

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

(CNN) — Karl Lagerfeld, who was known to have a portfolio of lavish homes, once said: “The most beautiful house is always the next one.”

Your next house could be this graceful French mansion, previously owned by both the late German designer and by European royalty.

The seven-bedroom property, situated less than an hour from Paris, is on sale for 2.7 million euros ($3.1 million). According to the property listing with realtor PYLA Paris, Manoir du Mée “is an elegant 18th-century residence” that previously belonged to Lagerfeld and then to Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Lagerfeld, who died in Paris in 2019, owned the property for at least a decade until 1998. Chanel staged photo shoots there during that time, including one featuring French supermodel Inès de la Fressange.

Princess Caroline and her family later lived there for six years, during which time her children attended a local school. Her daughter, Charlotte, drew on the walls upstairs and some of that artwork still remains, according to Alexis Feyfant, owner of real estate agency PYLA Paris.

The house was built in 1749 for a notable local family, the Faguiers, Feyfant told CNN in a telephone interview. He said another distinguished resident was Renée Saint-Cyr, a French film actress who made her name in the 1930s.

The current owner, who does not want to be identified, bought the property from the Monaco royals in 2014. Feyfant told CNN the house, which covers an area of about 5,380 square feet (500 square meters), is in a “really great condition,” and is an excellent example of classic French architecture. It could serve as a family home but also as a reception venue or creative space, he added.

“The atmosphere of the house feels like a private club,” he said. “You have mouldings, wall panels, Versailles parquet, fireplaces — it’s really authentic. You’ve got a gaming room then a bar where you can pour yourself a little cocktail and then you end up in the library lounge by the fireplace.”

According to the listing, the house is set in about half a hectare (1.25 acres) of parkland. The property’s other highlights include a large kitchen, bright reception and dressing rooms, and in addition to the main house, there is a smaller guest house of almost 2,000 square feet (186 square meters).

Beside his role at the helm of Chanel, Lagerfeld was also well known for his many luxury homes. Fashion writer Patrick Mauriès, co-author of “Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Houses,” told CNN in 2024: “He was always moving, he couldn’t imagine himself stuck in a period or style.”

Another of his former homes sold for 10 million euros ($10.8 million) in 2024. The three-room Paris apartment, situated on the Seine and opposite the Louvre, sold for nearly double its list price of 5.3 million euros ($5.7 million).

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Jack Guy and Suyin Haynes contributed to this report.