I can still remember the feeling of relief when I signed the offer for the palace. As if a massive stone had just dropped from my shoulders. However, after I sent the signed offer, the ramifications of the sale dawned on me. I got a stomach ache just at the thought of what I had to do to get the place ready. We had one year after signing the offer to get the place broom clean and empty. Sounds easy if we talk about a flat, or maybe a house. A whole estate is a gargantuan task. I am about to show you what it entailed — the organizational, physical and mental strain it put us under.
The search for a concept
Before we signed the offer in 2021, we tried to find a concept that would allow us to keep the estate. Even before the forest sale, cash-neutrality for the palace and its surrounding estate had been a goal of mine. After we sold our forest — our main asset, as I described in a previous article (here) — that goal became a requirement. I did not want to repeat what I have seen many times: the family being reduced to living for the legacy asset. Something I would not want to see for whoever comes after me. We explored all sorts of projects. From a solar farm including floating solar on the ponds, which was not feasible due to the lack of infrastructure. We then explored adding a vertical farm so we could use the power we generated ourselves. This, too, was economically not feasible due to the distance to the next largest city. We even looked into establishing a cemetery on the estate, which also failed due to the proximity to the ponds, which are of extraordinary ecological value.
Finally, we explored establishing a clinic on the estate with the palace serving as the social hub for the clinic. This project was actually promising. Still, the discussions with investors and developers were disheartening. When a twenty-something comes up with an idea like this, he is primarily ridiculed. Nevertheless, we did find a developer who would have been open to discussions. The project would have been extensive, requiring rezoning and political support. This is the sort of project that will take 10 years or more to execute. A serious commitment of time and energy. But would I want to focus my next 10 to 15 years on this project?
Thirty years of stewardship
My parents had stewarded the estate for 30 years of their lives. My mother in particular, focused mostly on the palace. Her life and identity revolved around the palace. All her projects were intertwined with it. She invested some of her own money in it and she exhibited her antique collection in it. For 20 years straight, she hosted inter-border exhibitions in it, for which she was even awarded the Austrian honour-cross (Ehrenkreuz). For my mother, the palace was part of her. Just as the forest was part of my father.
When I took on the estate, I had one condition, which was for my parents to move out. The reasons were purely practical. First of all, to have a shot at a cash-neutral operation, I would need all the outbuildings, including the part we actually lived in — a house with about 800m² of usable area. For reference, the palace itself had roughly 2000 m² — none of it heated. And secondly, my parents were not 100% on board with my plans, so I knew that if they stayed there, we would run into problems with each other. Something not worth happening over an asset. For this to work, my parents acquired a house in a town near by. However, this would need renovation works and would require time. I was happy to endure the time, with the goal of their moving and retiring.
The trouble I feared did kick off right away. The different opinions on how to do things frequently led to clashes. Also, employees, neighbours, and moochers would regularly circumvent me and ask my parents. As my parents had dealt with these requests for 30 years, they would still do so, however, with opposite results to what I was aiming for. These constant clashes were exhausting.
The clashes were exhausting, but they were nothing compared to what came at Christmas.
What happened that evening changed the course of the sale entirely — and forced a question I hadn’t expected to face until much later.
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