High School Sweethearts Inherited a 500-Year-Old French Chateau. Now They Have to Save It (Exclusive)

HGTV’s latest makeover series is downright magical.

Castle Impossible stars Daphne Reckert and Ian Figueira, high school sweethearts who are facing the ultimate renovation mission — restoring the 500-year-old French chateau that she recently inherited from her grandfather.

The sprawling property is largely in a state of disrepair, and without a careful renovation, the house will crumble. To add to the massively overwhelming undertaking, the couple says they have no financial backup plan should they fail.

In an PEOPLE exclusive first clip of the show (premiering April 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT) they prepare to tackle the reno of a lifetime.

Reckert and Figueira got married 11 years after first meeting in high school. They had envisioned moving into a tiny home in California and were setting that plan in motion when Reckert learned her late grandfather had left her a literal castle.

“The truth is, I don’t even know how big the chateau is,” Reckert says.

The centuries-old French property is set on 130 acres of land and in addition to the four-story main structure, there’s a lodge, a farmhouse, 28 horse stables, a dove tower and a cabin in the woods.

Figueira considers the property like Beauty and the Beast — “the bottom floor is the Beauty, and the three floors above are the Beast.” It’s true; the first floor boasts bright sunlit rooms, historic paintings and classical architecture. It “once welcomed guests like King Louis XIII,” according to a release from HGTV, and in more recent years, has been a successful wedding venue.

But up the many flights of stairs, cracks have begun creeping along the walls and down the windows.

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Without major renovations, the castle is heading for ruin, Reckert says. Luckily, the couple have a background in carpentry, conservation and landscaping, and their families work in construction and design.

Still, the workload is overwhelming, and Reckert says they’ve put their all into the house.

“We don’t exactly have a financial safety net,” says Figueira.

 Adds Reckert, “If we lose the Chateau, we lose everything.”

Castle Impossible premieres April 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.