Got Garlic? Dracula's Castle for Sale

MLS Transylvania:  Charming fixer-upper features 19 bedrooms, 63,242 bloodbaths.

Bran Castle is a 14th century fortress perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania.   Rumors tell the tale of Vlad the Impaler (the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula") overnighting there during his murderous reign.  It is a major tourist attraction, and several movies have been shot in and around the castle.

It was confiscated by the Communists in 1948, but is now on the auction block after being returned to private ownership last year.

Princess Ileana of Romania had been given the castle as a reward for works done by her royal family, which ruled Romania from 1866 until the Communist era.  Her son, Archduke Dominic Habsburg (a New York architect) saw the castle returned to the family last year.  Habsburg originally pledged to run it as a museum until 2009 but then offered to sell it last year to the local government for $80 million.  They balked at the high price tag and he is now looking for a private buyer.  If sold, the castle could net over $100 million.

But a sale may never happen.  The property is now at the center of a legal dispute, as lawmakers in Bucharest began debating today whether the property was legally returned to Archduke Habsburg and whether he is allowed to sell it.  Habsburg's lawyers said he would file a lawsuit for $210 million if parliament votes to block the sale or confiscate the castle.  And there is plenty of reason to do so; whoever controls ownership of the site is guaranteed a fortune as a result of its tourist appeal.