For Sale: Dracula's Castle

Transylvanian property owner seeks bites
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 12, 2014 1:34 AM CDT
Updated May 12, 2014 4:00 AM CDT
For Sale: Dracula's Castle
A view from inside the walls of Bran Castle, near the Transylvanian city of Brasov.   (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A one-of-its-kind property is available for buyers looking for a big stake in the Transylvanian property market: the castle that once housed the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Bran Castle, long one of Romania's top tourist attractions, has been owned by everybody from Teutonic knights to Communist governments over the years, and the elderly archduke who now owns it is ready to sell, the Telegraph reports. Vlad the Impaler, whose sadistic rule was the source of many vampire legends, operated in the area in the 15th century and is believed to have been imprisoned in the castle at one point, reports the Daily Mail.

The agent handling the sale says the right owner could make a killing by refurbishing the castle and turning it into "the kind of place people will stay for two or three days." The castle "is the real thing," he says. "We don’t need men going around dressed up in old-fashioned costumes; the place speaks for itself." It's not the only infamous property to hit the market: The Wall Street Journal reports that the Scarface mansion where Tony Montana met his end is for sale for $35 million. The 10,000-square-foot home looks out onto the ... Pacific. It's located not in Florida, where the film took place, but in Montecito, Calif. (In other real estate news, America just logged its most expensive residential sale, at $147 million.)

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