George and Amal Clooney are now officially the owners of Domaine du Canadel, announced Didier Brémond, the mayor of Brignoles, France, this week.
"Welcome to Brignoles! It's now official, George and Amal Clooney are residents of our beautiful community," wrote Brémond. "I have had the pleasure of meeting them, by their invitation, at Domaine du Canadel, where they will soon set down their suitcases."
The mayor's office confirmed to Wine Spectator that a legal dispute over the sale of the Provence wine estate had been resolved, and the Hollywood A-listers had begun moving in to the beautiful 425-acre estate, located in the Var.
This past May, it came to light that another potential buyer claimed to have signed a contract to purchase the estate in August 2020, for a reported €6 million, before Clooney signed his own agreement. The local prosecutor's office confirmed that the disgruntled would-be buyer filed a lawsuit against the sellers in the Draguignan tribunal in March, contesting the transaction. The plaintiff's lawyer, Guy Azzari, had told the French media that it would likely take several months before the case went to trial. There was no indication that the Clooneys were accused of any wrongdoing, nor aware of any real-estate hijinks.
Apparently the Draguignan tribunal worked at warp-speed to sort the matter. The Clooneys are now setting up their Provencal pied-à-terre, which includes an exquisitely renovated 18th-century mansion as well as a pool, tennis court, boules pitch, formal gardens, ornamental lake, olive grove and 25-acre vineyard.
The estate is a 30-minute drive from Château Miraval, co-owned by ex-couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Twenty minutes away is Château Marguï, owned by George Lucas. And the Brignoles locals are thrilled with their newest neighbors. "His arrival could do us a lot of good," Brémond said earlier this year. "With George Clooney, we are in a new dimension."
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