A grand neo-Baroque German residence perched above the left bank of the Rhine River is uniquely steeped in history with a future full of potential.

Dating to the early 20^th century and commonly known as Schloss Ernich, the gargantuan mansion presides over about 46 acres in the town of Remagen, about 12 miles south of Bonn. For about the last 20 years it has been owned by celebrated film producer Ulrich Felsberg, whose silver screen credits include the award-winning film Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and the Oscar-nominated documentary Buena Vista Social Club (1999).

Ernst von Ihne, one of the leading architects of his time, designed the symmetrical structure, which was completed in 1908 as the summer residence of Cologne industrialist Arnold von Guilleaume. The estate also includes a gatehouse for security, a large carriage house, and an atelier for creative pursuits.

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For a couple of years after World War I, the 40-room residence was occupied by the American military before it became a swanky boutique hotel and restaurant. The French government acquired the schloss in the late 1940s—after it had once again been temporarily seized by American troops during WWII—and it began its near 50-year tenure as the residence of the French ambassador in 1955. The ambassador’s residence was relocated to Berlin in 1999, and Felsberg acquired the storied estate from the French government in 2007. He has since restored and renovated the regally proportioned abode and recently put it up for sale at €19.5 million—about $23 million—with Harold Kaster at Sotheby’s International Realty. 

Though a plan to convert the property to a hotel complex never came to fruition, marketing materials indicate building rights have been granted to increase the overall square footage on the property to about 23,000 square meters—a whopping 275,000 square feet—with provisions for a hotel, conference center, spa, restaurant, and underground parking, along with apartments for owners and caretakers. Alternatively, it can be maintained as a gracious single-family home with easy access to Bonn, Cologne, and Frankfurt.

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At the center of the more-than-18,000-square-foot house, which has 10 bedrooms, is a spacious reception gallery with elaborate plaster detailing, large-scale herringbone-pattern floorboards, and just one of many in the three-story home, a carved stone fireplace. Four Corinthian columns and a quartet of sculpted plantings focus the view over the grassy gardens toward the river. 

The renowned landscape architect Albert Brodersen, who served as Berlin’s city garden director, installed the original three-tiered gardens, smartly including hydrants for irrigation that draw water from the estate’s own spring. 

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