A big part of the allure of Emily in Paris is its sumptuous presentation of the titular city. Now, Season 2 has ratcheted up the location-porn vibes thanks to a jaunt to the French Riviera in its second episode, “Do You Know the Way to Saint-Tropez?” There’s a seductive and glamorous beach club, owned by the equally seductive and glamorous Laurent (Arnaud Binard), and there’s the luxe hotel where Emily (Lily Collins) is staying — the kind of place that Instagram vacation-dump dreams are made of. But no “Saint-Tropez” venue is more dazzling than the party palace known as Ragazzi House, a spot where Emily, Mindy (Ashley Park) and Camille (Camille Razat) all arrive with very different intentions: a guilty Emily is eager to convince Camille to repair her relationship with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), while Camille is set on making out with a hot semistranger. And Mindy? She just wants to enjoy the jetpack-flying sax player. 

While Emily’s and Camille’s dueling objectives make for lots of juicy tension at Ragazzi House, the story behind the fictional venue’s actual location — Château Diter in the French town of Grasse — is even more dramatic. And it’s still being written. 

The Real Story of Ragazzi House

The 32,000-square-foot megamansion known as Château Diter is owned by Patrick Diter, a French real estate developer and multimillionaire, and is worth about $66 million. Diter bought the then-2,000-square-foot property in 1999 and moved into it the following year with his family. Back then, the estate was a simple farmhouse and some ​​dilapidated buildings. Diter spent the next two decades building out his property, and now it boasts two helipads, “a large medieval cloister,” 15th-century fireplaces, a cellar with an accompanying wine-tasting room, vineyards, olive groves and a saltwater swimming pool, according to the website where rooms at the château can be rented for the night.

Photo by Philippe Petit/Paris Match via Getty Images

The château’s reputation as a party haven is reflected in Emily in Paris, with Mindy lighting up at the promise of a Ragazzi House celebration, explaining, “There is a literal coffee table book about those parties!” While Château Diter hasn’t been immortalized in a book featuring a photo of “Tom Hardy doing yoga on the diving board,” it is famous for its events — infamous, actually. Which is why it’s been at the center of a lengthy legal battle for over a decade. 

Diter’s neighbors have been “claiming that [his] loud partying” is interfering with their quiet countryside lives, Vanity Fair reports. “He has 132 speakers in the garden,” alleges neighbor Caroline Butt, who has been engaged in a legal battle with Diter since 2009. “Sometimes the music is so loud we cannot sit out on the terrace as all you hear is loud music. You can't sleep and he has had parties that go on until 5 a.m.” 

Château Diter’s Ongoing Legal Battle and Uncertain Future 

In February 2021, la Cour de Cassation, France’s highest judicial court, upheld a 2019 ruling that demanded Diter demolish his opulent château (save for the initial farmhouse he originally purchased). While noise complaints and accusations of hard partying are the splashiest rumors swirling around Château Diter, the case hinges on much more pragmatic issues, namely that it was “illegally constructed” and “in defiance of urban planning, safety and environmental rules,” Le Figaro reports. Allegedly, Château Diter’s new 2,000-foot driveway cut through environmentally protected lands and has caused flooding in the surrounding area. 

Though the Cassation court ordered Château Diter be demolished, Diter’s lawyer, Philippe Soussi, told Air Mail, “This decision is not the epilogue of this affair. Even the idea of demolishing Château Diter, which is an architectural masterpiece, is unimaginable and foolish. We’re going to fight to avoid this.” While it’s likely that the legal battle will continue, Diter has been told he has until June 2022 to tear down his chateau — or pay a $600 fine for each day of noncompliance. So if you want to know what it’s like to party at Ragazzi House, you have just a few months to get there — or you could just watch Emily in Paris.