Daphne Reckert & Ian Figueira Share Their Plan for Raising a Baby While Restoring a 500-Year-Old Château

Daphne Reckert and Ian Figueira, stars of HGTV’s Castle Impossible, are expecting their first child. As the couple continues renovating the 500-year-old French chateau Reckert inherited from her grandfather, fans have been asking how a new baby will affect both the show and the family’s day-to-day life.

The couple recently discussed how they plan to balance parenting with the renovation work and the wedding-venue business they run out of the property.

The soon-to-be parents announced their pregnancy to Granny during the June 2 episode of Castle Impossible’s Season 2.

In an interview with Swoon, the couple explained how they intend to keep the renovation moving while caring for their newborn, making clear that the child is the priority but the work won’t stop entirely.

Reckert said, “Obviously, I’m not going to be in the renovations as much. But I’ll do a lot of the prep work and the management of things.”

Figueira added that the two will need to split responsibilities and take turns, noting that the chateau still has significant work ahead and the wedding-venue business remains active alongside it.

“We’re going to have to take turns and be navigating all this because the chateau is far from finished. There is still a lot of renovating to do. There is also the wedding venue business we’re actively running,” he said.

The couple also said friends and family plan to help with child care after they've had a couple of weeks alone with the baby.

The couple said they’re open to the chateau remaining their permanent home and hope it eventually passes to their child and potentially their grandchild.

Figueira said, “I feel like it’s almost beyond our family. It was your grandfather’s and someday our child’s and maybe their child’s. So, it does feel like forever. It has such a rich history. I feel like Daphne and I are in our little chapter in it, and then we get to pass it on.”

The high school sweethearts moved several years ago from their California home to manage the 130-acre estate in Lésigny. The journey has been documented in the series, which has over 14 million viewers.

Speaking about how working together has strengthened their relationship, Reckert said, “I feel like it has definitely been a challenge, but it’s also been really fulfilling. I don’t know if our relationship would have been challenged in this way if we didn’t have such a big project at hand. We get through it every time, so that’s really reassuring.”