The mayor and the lawyers in charge of the sale were besieged by potential buyers from around the world, with at least 100 interested parties. “It was totally irrational, totally unbelievable,” the lawyer for owners Crédit Agricole bank, Paul Gérardin, told Le Parisien.
After villagers abandoned the place, an attempt to run Courbefy as a hotel and restaurant complex failed, with Crédit Agricole putting it on sale in bankruptcy proceedings.
Ahea, the buyer, who has an exhibition scheduled at the Louvre Museum next month, was not present for the auction.
The artist, who already has interests in several organic farms, prides himself on his website on allowing “nature to live as it was intended to live, without the interference of man and man-made additives of any kind”.
The mayor of neighbouring Saint-Nicolas Courbefy, Bernard Guilhem, le maire de Saint-Nicolas Courbefy said: “I am reassured that the village has finally be sold and if the (buyer’s) project is still unclear, I’m convinced it will recreate life and stimulate the economy. There will be jobs,” he said.