'Da Vinci Code' chateau has real-life tangled past

'Da Vinci Code' chateau has real-life tangled past

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Posted: 1444 GMT (2244 HKT)


VILLETTE, France (AP) -- Chateau de Villette, the sumptuous home of Sir
Leigh Teabing, the sinfully wealthy character from "The Da Vinci Code," is
not just a figment of author Dan Brown's imagination but a real-life chateau
with a past as fascinating as its star-struck present.

Set on a sprawling, 185-acre estate northwest of Paris, the 17th-century
chateau was once home to the noble French Marshal Gen. Emmanuel de Grouchy,
exiled to Philadelphia after leading Napoleon's troops to defeat in the
Battle of Waterloo.

Nearly two centuries and a host of aristocratic French owners later,
American real estate mogul Olivia Hsu Decker bought the property in 1999 --
four years before "The Da Vinci Code" -- the book -- hit the shelves.

Today, "People come with the book in hand and they literally go through each
paragraph," she said, adding that some even go so far as to recite the
dialogue. Those visitors, Decker said, "don't like being reminded" of the
thin line that separates fact from fiction.

Brown's descriptions of the property, headquarters of Sir Teabing's search
for the Holy Grail, are almost eerily accurate. Even the barn, with its
rickety ladder leading to the loft where Teabing hid his spy equipment, is
true to Brown's description.

In real life, the barn houses something only slightly less curious than the
British aristocrat's state-of-the-art gear: a towering wine press that looks
like a giant pterodactyl and dates from the 12th century.

Decker, who has lived a drama of her own with a rags-to-riches background,
said the chateau's new life as the set for "The Da Vinci Code" started with
an e-mail from Brown's wife.

Upon learning that Sony Pictures had bought the rights to "The Da Vinci
Code," Decker invited the production company to scope out her digs, and
director Ron Howard went incognito, visiting with a tour group.

Like many of France's historic homes, Chateau de Villette had fallen into
disrepair. Decker restored it, adding 15 more bathrooms in the process. She
also outfitted a multitiered Poseidon fountain in the backyard with a remote
control that allows her to regulate the flow of water from her sofa.

Decker was worried about damage during filming, but said the production --
which brought 87 trucks and trailers, hundreds of crew members and a
helicopter to the property for nine days in the summer of 2005 -- went off
without a hitch.

The crew shot at night by "moonlight" beamed through the chateau's picture
windows by spotlights.

They transformed the sprawling ballroom into Teabing's study, replacing
Decker's floral-print furniture with darker, heavier pieces meant to give
the mansion a British flavor. Decker pointed to a marble staircase outfitted
with a modern metal handrail -- needed by the handicapped Teabing to hoist
himself to his upstairs bedroom.

For a scene in which police tear down the chateau gate, set designers
replaced the massive, wrought-iron gate with a near-identical copy that
fooled even Decker.

"I couldn't figure out why my key wouldn't work until someone on the crew
came over and let me in," she said.
Chateau owner Olivia Hsu Decker offers luxury five-night "Da Vinci Code"
retreats.

Decker was one of the rare outsiders permitted to pierce the shroud of
secrecy that surrounded every aspect of production. Although she denies
signing a confidentiality clause, Decker deflected questions about what
exactly she saw.

She also declined to reveal her rental fee for the chateau, but insisted it
was "much cheaper" than the movie's other French location, the Louvre Museum
-- which has kept its fee strictly under wraps.

Today, Decker has parlayed the chateau's newfound fame into a profitable
side business: luxury "Da Vinci Code" retreats with five-night stays at the
chateau that include dinners by a five-star chef and in-depth "Code"
lectures by a historian. The price tag: up to $5,540.

It's the chateau's hidden details that most thrill eagle-eyed "Da Vinci
Code" fans, Decker said, pointing to the metal handle of a picture window,
emblazoned with a five-point star -- the symbol police find carved into the
dead body of the Louvre curator.

"With all the other not-so-nice things going on in the world, this is a
little escape for people," she said.

The owner of two chateaux in France as well as property in the San Francisco
Bay area, Decker has plenty of little escapes of her own.

A native of Shanghai, she grew up in Taiwan, where her parents settled after
fleeing communist China. The family shared a one-room flat with no running
water outside Taipei, Decker said. She worked her way out of poverty, first
as a flight attendant and then -- after marrying an American and moving to
California -- as manager of the Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco.

Asked if she would consider capitalizing on the wave of interest in her
chateau and sell the property, Decker demurred.

"Right now, I'm pretty busy," she said. "But if the price is right ..."

Have you seen this web site yet? These people claim to be in contact
with the Priory of Sion-- I watched the trailer and couldn't believe
it!

Earl Evleth wrote:
'Da Vinci Code' chateau has real-life tangled past

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Posted: 1444 GMT (2244 HKT)


VILLETTE, France (AP) -- Chateau de Villette, the sumptuous home of Sir
Leigh Teabing, the sinfully wealthy character from "The Da Vinci Code," is
not just a figment of author Dan Brown's imagination but a real-life chateau
with a past as fascinating as its star-struck present.

Set on a sprawling, 185-acre estate northwest of Paris, the 17th-century
chateau was once home to the noble French Marshal Gen. Emmanuel de Grouchy,
exiled to Philadelphia after leading Napoleon's troops to defeat in the
Battle of Waterloo.

Nearly two centuries and a host of aristocratic French owners later,
American real estate mogul Olivia Hsu Decker bought the property in 1999 --
four years before "The Da Vinci Code" -- the book -- hit the shelves.

Today, "People come with the book in hand and they literally go through each
paragraph," she said, adding that some even go so far as to recite the
dialogue. Those visitors, Decker said, "don't like being reminded" of the
thin line that separates fact from fiction.

Brown's descriptions of the property, headquarters of Sir Teabing's search
for the Holy Grail, are almost eerily accurate. Even the barn, with its
rickety ladder leading to the loft where Teabing hid his spy equipment, is
true to Brown's description.

In real life, the barn houses something only slightly less curious than the
British aristocrat's state-of-the-art gear: a towering wine press that looks
like a giant pterodactyl and dates from the 12th century.

Decker, who has lived a drama of her own with a rags-to-riches background,
said the chateau's new life as the set for "The Da Vinci Code" started with
an e-mail from Brown's wife.

Upon learning that Sony Pictures had bought the rights to "The Da Vinci
Code," Decker invited the production company to scope out her digs, and
director Ron Howard went incognito, visiting with a tour group.

Like many of France's historic homes, Chateau de Villette had fallen into
disrepair. Decker restored it, adding 15 more bathrooms in the process. She
also outfitted a multitiered Poseidon fountain in the backyard with a remote
control that allows her to regulate the flow of water from her sofa.

Decker was worried about damage during filming, but said the production --
which brought 87 trucks and trailers, hundreds of crew members and a
helicopter to the property for nine days in the summer of 2005 -- went off
without a hitch.

The crew shot at night by "moonlight" beamed through the chateau's picture
windows by spotlights.

They transformed the sprawling ballroom into Teabing's study, replacing
Decker's floral-print furniture with darker, heavier pieces meant to give
the mansion a British flavor. Decker pointed to a marble staircase outfitted
with a modern metal handrail -- needed by the handicapped Teabing to hoist
himself to his upstairs bedroom.

For a scene in which police tear down the chateau gate, set designers
replaced the massive, wrought-iron gate with a near-identical copy that
fooled even Decker.

"I couldn't figure out why my key wouldn't work until someone on the crew
came over and let me in," she said.
Chateau owner Olivia Hsu Decker offers luxury five-night "Da Vinci Code"
retreats.

Decker was one of the rare outsiders permitted to pierce the shroud of
secrecy that surrounded every aspect of production. Although she denies
signing a confidentiality clause, Decker deflected questions about what
exactly she saw.

She also declined to reveal her rental fee for the chateau, but insisted it
was "much cheaper" than the movie's other French location, the Louvre Museum
-- which has kept its fee strictly under wraps.

Today, Decker has parlayed the chateau's newfound fame into a profitable
side business: luxury "Da Vinci Code" retreats with five-night stays at the
chateau that include dinners by a five-star chef and in-depth "Code"
lectures by a historian. The price tag: up to $5,540.

It's the chateau's hidden details that most thrill eagle-eyed "Da Vinci
Code" fans, Decker said, pointing to the metal handle of a picture window,
emblazoned with a five-point star -- the symbol police find carved into the
dead body of the Louvre curator.

"With all the other not-so-nice things going on in the world, this is a
little escape for people," she said.

The owner of two chateaux in France as well as property in the San Francisco
Bay area, Decker has plenty of little escapes of her own.

A native of Shanghai, she grew up in Taiwan, where her parents settled after
fleeing communist China. The family shared a one-room flat with no running
water outside Taipei, Decker said. She worked her way out of poverty, first
as a flight attendant and then -- after marrying an American and moving to
California -- as manager of the Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco.

Asked if she would consider capitalizing on the wave of interest in her
chateau and sell the property, Decker demurred.

"Right now, I'm pretty busy," she said. "But if the price is right ..."