When Daphne Fig inherited a 17th-century French château from her grandfather, taking over the 130-acre property wasn’t exactly what she and her husband Ian envisioned doing post-pandemic. The California natives were planning to move into a tiny home and start a family, but soon found themselves settling into magnificent Château de Lésigny, near Paris.
HGTV has since tagged along as the couple renovates the wedding and photography venue in Castle Impossible. And in a heartwarming episode of season two, airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the pair revealed they’re expecting their first child.
“Ian and I thought we would be starting a family eight years ago,” Daphne tells Country Living. “But when I inherited the chateau, it was like, ‘Let's put that on hold.’”
“And then baby surprised us,” adds Ian. “The baby was like, ‘Now’s the time!’”
The joyous news comes amid a string of major projects at the chateau, including overhauling the dilapidated gatehouse for Granny to move into, transforming a birdhouse into a honeymoon suite, and expanding the events business that finances the 500-year-old property.
Daphne and Ian spoke with Country Living about château life, preparing for parenthood, and retaining her grandfather’s legacy.
Congrats on your baby news! How's your pregnancy going?
Daphne: It's going great. Baby is kicking, active and may have already started renovations in the womb. There’s definitely stuff moving around.
What are you most nervous about?
Daphne: The same things as any first-time mom going into the unknown. It’s like, “How do I be the best mother? How do we create the best family dynamics for our child while juggling everything else?” It's a big challenge, but one that I'm welcoming with my arms wide open.
Ian: Over recent months, the conversations around having a child have been really interesting because we're talking about values and ethics we want to instill in our child. That’s been really fun. We’re learning more about each other.
What kind of parents do you think each other will be?
Daphne: Ian will want to show his kid how everything works.
Ian: Daphne has very strong maternal instincts, so baby's going to choose her as a favorite. I'm going to have to compete by sneaking candy to baby all the time. “Here’s another Snickers bar!”
Daphne: Don’t!
Raising a baby in a castle is pretty special. How do you envision parenting in that unique environment?
Daphne: I get nervous about raising a child at the château beyond a certain age because I want our child to be exposed to things outside the château. It's easy for me and Ian to be at the château for a month straight, other than food shopping.
Ian: During wedding season, we have different people showing up, landscaping crews, wedding parties. We see so many people without leaving the house, which is a strange dynamic.
Daphne: We’ll have to make efforts to go out more and expose our child to the world outside of the domain.
Ian: Which happens to be Paris!
Do you also hope to instill parts of your Californian background?
Ian: If someday we could have a small second home in California and go for a few months every year, that would be the dream. Before moving to France, Daphne and I were in Monterey and being by the ocean, having access to everything in the Bay Area and having really good food was great. It's a different dynamic from Paris, which is amazing for different reasons.
Daphne, were you into castles and fairy tales as a kid?
Daphne: I loved a good fairy tale. I didn’t care too much for princess stories, but my dad's from Germany and made everything whimsical and magical for me. And now I've come to really love the prince and princess story at the chateau.
Is there anything from that whimsical upbringing you’ve pulled upon while renovating the château?
Daphne: We instill romance throughout the property. We created another capsule of romance with our renovation of the Dove Tower, which I can’t wait for viewers to see.
Ian: It's not a space that was meant for humans. It was meant for pigeons! We had fun adapting that. We installed 300 electric candles and it’s magical now.
As you renovated the events bathrooms into selfie-worthy rest stops, we saw how much continues to go wrong during these projects. How does that test your relationship?
Daphne: Ian and I have a very team-like, solution-oriented mentality. It’s like, “Where do you need support? Where do I need support?”
Ian: We have to compartmentalize. Sometimes the stress eats away at us, so it’s about reminding each other, “It's dinner time. We need to put this down, eat, watch an episode of a show and relax.”
People think owning a castle’s a dream, but what are the downsides?
Daphne: There’s always stuff to be fixed!
Ian: Since we finished filming, problems have arisen that we’ve had to wrap our heads around. A château is all-encompassing. The renovation doesn't stop. It's just part of the norm!
What was the biggest test this season?
Ian: Granny has been a challenge, but she's fantastic. We love Granny!
Daphne: She's hard to please. I value her opinion so much and just want to make her happy, so however she feels about something feels 10 times stronger to me than anyone else’s thoughts.
There was that scene where she felt like some of your grandfather’s touches were getting lost in renovations. How has it been retaining his legacy while doing what you need to do?
Daphne: A really pleasant surprise was after Ian and I finished the hunter’s lodge, we went on vacation, came back, opened the door and I was like, Oh my god. It still smells like Pépé’s place.” I wasn't expecting that and it was profound. I love that this now feels like home, but also still feels like Pépé’s place.
Ian: The best responses have been when Granny and Daphne’s grandfather’s friends have reminded us they feel confident he would be thrilled with everything that's happened here. It’s really nice to hear that.
*Castle Impossible screens Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV and streams the next day on HBO Max.
Leena Tailor is an award-winning Los Angeles-based journalist with more than 20 years experience covering entertainment, lifestyle and travel for outlets around the world. Originally from New Zealand, she was lured to the endless sunshine of California in 2010 and has since interviewed some of the world's biggest celebrities for outlets including Rolling Stone, Hollywood Reporter, InStyle, Billboard and Entertainment Tonight. Leena’s love for beaches, boy bands, concerts and cocktails has taken her from Mexico to Germany, with her travel and lifestyle features appearing in Travel and Leisure, Vinepair and Vogue.
