Castle Docs

Legal & Ownership Structure

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Legal & Ownership Structure

This page explains, as plainly as we can, who owns the place and under what legal structure the activities here run. We keep it public in the spirit of transparency — if anything is unclear or out of date, please flag it.

Two different things

There’s a difference between the land and buildings (owned by a person) and the activities that happen here — events, residencies, sales — which are run through companies. They’re legally separate. This page covers both.

At a glance

flowchart TD
    P["<b>The property — Château de Bénac</b><br/>456 Grand Rue de Bellissen, 09000 Bénac<br/>owned personally by Patrick Mulligan<br/>(bought via SAFER, May 2025)"]
    A["<b>ARIO LABS — SASU</b><br/>parent / holding company<br/>IT consulting · ticketing<br/>SIREN 130 370 273"]
    E["<b>Château du Faune — EURL</b><br/>operating company<br/>events · hosting · buying and reselling crafts<br/>SIREN 131 416 471"]
    A -->|owns 100%| E
    E -. runs its activities at .-> P

The property (the land and buildings)

The property’s legal name is Château de Bénac; the project around it is called Château du Faune — same place, two names you’ll see.

  • It was bought in May 2025 through SAFER, the French public body that regulates sales of farmland. Buying through SAFER came with a 10-year agricultural commitment: the land has to stay in genuine agricultural use for a decade. That constraint shapes a lot of what we do and don’t do with the land.
  • The property is owned personally by Patrick Mulligan — not by a company and not by a collective. The companies below simply operate on the property.

The "collective" is people, not an owner

The collective farm and artist residency is a community of people and practice — it is not itself a company, an association, or a landowner. How we live and make decisions together is covered by our community agreements (see House Rules, Community Meetings, and Community Foundations), which are separate from the legal ownership described here.

The two companies

Two French companies run the activity. They are separate legal persons, each with its own registration number (SIREN). One owns the other.

ARIO LABS — the parent (holding) company

Legal formSASU (one-shareholder simplified joint-stock company)
SIREN130 370 273 · R.C.S. Foix
RoleHolding company — it owns 100 % of Château du Faune EURL — and also runs IT/data consulting and event ticketing software
Registered office456 Grand Rue de Bellissen, 09000 Bénac
PresidentPatrick Mulligan

Château du Faune — the operating company (the subsidiary)

Legal formEURL (one-partner limited company)
SIREN131 416 471 · R.C.S. Foix
RoleThe operating company for the château: organising events, hosting the people who attend them, and buying and reselling crafts (pottery, wood, textiles)
Sole partner (owner)ARIO LABS SASU (100 %)
Manager (gérant)Patrick Mulligan

Each company’s share capital is a nominal €500. Both are taxed under corporate income tax (IS), with a first financial year ending 31 December 2027.

Why it’s set up this way

In plain terms:

  • Château du Faune (EURL) is the company the public actually deals with for events, stays, and purchases. Keeping it as its own company means the château’s activity — and its risks — stay contained in one place.
  • ARIO LABS (SASU) sits above it as a parent. The IT/ticketing side earns money; the château project needs investment before it pays for itself. Holding one company inside the other lets funds move between them with less tax friction than routing everything through a person, and keeps the two activities’ liabilities apart.

That’s the whole logic: separate the activities, keep the risks separate, let the group support the château efficiently.

Verify it yourself

Both companies are on the public French business registry. You can look them up — no account needed:

Questions

If you have a question this page doesn’t answer, ask Patrick directly, or raise it at a community meeting. See also the FAQ.

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