European's Total Sticker Shock Over Hamptons House Prices Goes Viral

Ah, the Hamptons- the bougie beach community to end all bougie beach communities. This scenic strip of Long Island is famous for its lush farms and vineyards, pristine beaches, celebrity vacation homes, and witheringly high real estate prices.

Median home prices in the Hamptons are somewhere in the seven-figure range, and the community's biggest homes go for even higher. Those prices would shock the average American, but I don't think any American has ever been quite as shocked by the Hamptons as French expat Louis was when he visited the upscale community on June 25th!

LOL! Louis, aka @theeuropeankid , didn't just sound shocked; he sounded insulted. It wasn't just that these Hamptons homes cost $50-60 million; it was that all you got for that high price tag was what looked like a little "house in Albania," at least by Louis' estimation. I don't think Albanian homes deserve that kind of comparison...

Related: $99.5 Million Hamptons Compound Just Went Up for Sale and People Can't Believe What's Inside

"They're beautiful homes, you're on the water," insisted Louis' host, an affluent Hamptons local himself.

But Louis wasn't buying it- literally: "Do you know what kind of house you could buy in France, or in Europe, for this? ...You could buy a chateau for $60 million in Europe!"

The Cost of a Chateau

He's got a point. Sure, these homes are huge, beachfront properties built in one of the most affluent and sought-after coastal communities on the Eastern Seaboard. But the houses themselves? Well, let's just say Louis wasn't the only one who had big feelings about them.

"'It's the Hamptons' while pointing at something that looks like a hospital," laughed @neilwe_mamabear.

Viewer @dj_bloomdaddy actually disagreed: "I think a modern hospital has more character than these houses."

As Louis' video went viral, everybody joined in on the roast - even some Albanians, who clapped back on Louis' crack at their expense.

"In Albania, you can buy a house like this for 500k and live the rest of your life with 49.5 million like a boss," said @terminator205020.

OK, but what about those chateaux Louis was talking about? "Chateaux" (the plural of chateau) is the French term for large country estates: think Bridgerton or BBC's Pride and Prejudice . They're large, surrounded by lots of land, and are often hundreds of years old. Many chateaux are essentially just small castles! I don't know about you, but I'd prefer that to the hospital-esque mansions in the Hamptons that Louis was scoffing at. But what about chateau prices?

Looking at some beautiful French chateaux listed by French luxury realtor Cabinet Le Nail, I saw prices ranging from 490,000 € to 13,300,000 €. In US dollars, that ranges from around $524,598 to over $14 million. We're not even in the ballpark of $60 million, and we're talking about real estate prices for castles !

OK, but most of these were in the countryside, and perhaps they weren't in the best condition. What about seaside properties? That's gotta drive the price up, right? Well, Le Figaro Properties had several seaside chateaux listed on their website. I looked at their most expensive listings and found a jaw-dropping seaside, six-bed, 4-bath, Belle Epoque-era castle in Villefranche-sur-Mer going for... drumroll please... $50,372,400 USD.

Forget the Hamptons: I'm with Louis. Why buy a big box on Long Island when, for the same price (or even less), you can buy a dreamy seaside French castle that's straight out of The Little Mermaid ? I know where my money's going... or at least, where my money would go if I had $50 million to spare...

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