Oh la la! In online raffle, philanthropist giving up her ‎€1.7-M French chateau

Photo via winafrenchchateau.co.uk

A French chateau worth around 1.7 million euros is up for grabs in an online raffle — and tickets cost just 11 euros.

British philanthropist Ruth Philips is donating all the profits from the sale of her nine-bedroom Chateau de Cautine — set in 34 acres and complete with swimming pool — to good causes.

Entrants must be resident in England, Scotland or Wales and pick the correct translations of two French expressions — “les carottes sont cuites” and “ca ne casse pas trois pattes a un canard”.

Tickets cost £10 and a total of 500,000 are being sold at www.winafrenchchateau.co.uk. Philips aims to use the profits to build affordable housing that does not damage the environment.

Five percent of the proceeds of the ticket sales will be donated to St Petroc’s Society, a charity in Cornwall, southwestern England, for homeless people.

All other profits will fund a community interest company run by Philips, The Eco Village Development Company, which builds houses that can run ‘off-grid’ for very low running costs.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper: “Affordable housing is one of my main interests as I feel it is everyone’s right to have a home.

“It is impossible nowadays for people to afford a home because of the extremely high prices.

“This will provide a solution. The kit houses can be put together in a week and aim to cost less than 10 percent of the price of an average house in the UK.”

The fully-restored property lies in the Eastern Dordogne, according to the competition website, and is full of original antiques, cosy furnishings and open fireplaces.