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ROMANIA — Sitting high atop a hill on the border of Transylvania, a castle nicknamed after the world's most famous vampire is available for purchase.
While Dracula only lived in fictional stories, Bran Castle so closely resembles the vampire's residence as it is described in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" that hundreds of thousands of people flock to visit it every year. The castle hasn't officially been placed on the market, but the New York law firm Herzfeld and Rubin is accepting offers for a sale, according to The Telegraph.
“If someone comes in with a reasonable offer, we will look at who they are, what they are proposing, and will seriously entertain the idea,” Herzfeld and Rubin's Mark Meyer told The Telegraph.
Even though Stoker never visited the castle or Romania, he based his description of Count Dracula's home on an illustration of Bran Castle, according to the castle's website. The man rumored to have inspired the character of Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, never lived in the castle but was held as a prisoner there for two months.
Bran Castle has an interesting history independent of Dracula's legend — it has served both as a medieval fortress and royal residence. The castle was given to Queen Maria of Romania in 1918 and left to her daughter Princess Ileana in her will.
Ileana was forced to leave the castle and her country in 1948 when communists took control of Romania, but the government eventually returned Bran Castle to her three children in 2009.
Archduke Dominic, Archduchess Maria Magdalena and Archduchess Elisabeth are the current owners of the castle. Meyer said the owners are hoping whoever buys the castle will preserve its history and make improvements to better serve visitors.
"The reality is that ultimately a law firm and two archduchesses and an archduke cannot run forever what is a great entertainment property that is Romania's most significant tourist attraction," he told CBS News. "At some point it does need to be sold to people who can manage it and take it to the next level."
The castle has been serving as a museum since 1956 and is currently open to visitors every day of the week.
"What you have to remember is that this castle is the real thing," Meyer told The Telegraph. "We don't need men going around dressed up in old-fashioned costumes; the place speaks for itself."
