Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have bought a £35 million chateau in the French Riviera to base their growing family.

The couple are said to have looked at around 100 properties before settling on the 35-bedroom estate.

The sprawling residence comes complete with it's own vineyard, moat, lake and forest which they bought direct from the owner after spotting the property from the air by helicopter.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have bought a vineyard castle on the French Riviera to cater for their expanding brood

The pair hope to move in by the beginning of August as they are expecting twins on the 19th.

A source close to the deal said: 'It's a place called Chateau Miraval which is in a tiny village called Brignol in the Var, not far from Aix en Provence.

'Just the driveway up to the Chateau is three miles long.

'There's a lake and a swimming pool and fountains and fields with ponies in and it's surrounded by a huge forest so no-one will be able to take pictures of them or the kids.

'They're both thrilled as they've been hunting for a place on the Riviera for over a year and it's exactly what they want.

'Last year Brad and Angelina took a helicopter along the Riviera and they were literally landing in people's gardens of houses that they liked and were running in to ask if their properties were for sale.

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The Jolie-Pitts new home has 25-bedrooms, a vineyard and is surrounded by tall trees providing the family with privacy

'And they found this one the same way a few weeks ago, and told the owner to name his price and although it's a huge sum of money they were happy to pay it as it's just what they had in mind.

'They'll be moving in roughly three months and living there full- time.'

The magnificent cascading stone-walled terraces have been replanted with 13 different varieties of olives.

The estate is surrounded by water with twenty fountains, aquaducts, and a stream runs through hidden tunnels and into the moat and fills the lake.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will have famous neighbours such as Bono and U2's The Edge close by

The location of the chateau is perfect for Angelina who has chosen to give birth to her twins in France as a tribute to her French grandmother and mother.

It's also proved an idea situation since the family are planning to set up home there  for some weeks after the birth.

She gave birth to her first biological child - Shiloh - in Namibia two years ago.

'It's absolutely stunning,' said the source.

'They're going to enrol the kids in a local French school and they already have friends there like Bono and The Edge from U2 and Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis.'

The estate is situated at an altitude of 350 meters (1150 ft.), and spans 1000 acres.

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The estate comes complete with ponies, making playtime extra fun for the children

Of that 75 acres are devoted to vines which provide wine for a successful vineyard.

The vineyards are protected by the surrounding forest of evergreen and white oak, and parasol, aleppo and maritime pine.

'They've already bought a couple of million pounds worth of antiques to fill the place and are planning renovations with their Berlin based architects,' said a source.

It is thought that the Pitt-Jolie family are attracted to France due to the strict privacy laws.

In addition it has been reported that the two boys are showing signs of behavioural problems after being persistently uprooted from schools around the world.

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Dating from pre-Roman times, Cheateau Miraval is approached down a long winding lane through woods

The family, made of up adopted children Maddox, six, Zahara, three, and Pax, four, and biological daughter Shiloh, 22 months, have spent the last few weeks at Microsoft businessman Paul Allen's villa outside Cannes.

Miss Jolie has been promoting two films at the film festival, Changeling and Kung Fu Panda.

During press interviews her costar in Kung Fu Panda, Jack Black, let slip that she was expecting twins while Dustin Hoffman, also in the animated film, gave away the actress's due date.

Brad and Angelina have chosen France to have their twins as a tribute to her French grandmother