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Downtown Abbey,what are the houses like now?
Phylan78
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Ok it's now in the 1920's,a time of social and technological change. The state Old Age Pension had just been introduced,enabling employees to retire. Electricity was starting to change lives,which would have affected cooking,heating and communication technologies were on the way. Incomes of such families were falling due to taxes and falling value of land,yields from land etc.
So what would a 'Downtown' manor look like today?
So what would a 'Downtown' manor look like today?
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And they wouldn't dress for dinner.
Many were taken over by the armed forces or government during WWII, some were kept by them and others badly damaged - the owner of Inverailort House died soon after her house was requisitioned by the War Office and it is usually believed that she died of a "broken heart". Several had parts damaged by the military during WWII.
Highclere Castle most certainly isn't owned by the National Trust. It's owned by the Countess of Caernarvon, descended from the family of Lord Caernarvon who, with Howard Carter, uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Andrew Lloyd Webber made an offer to buy the house from them (he lives a few miles away) to house his art collection a few years ago, but it was declined.
Chatsworth, which I think was the supposed "seat" of Mr Darcy (though most of us looked at his chest rather than his seat in the Ehle / Firth (definitive) adaptation) is open to the public. But in trusts of various kinds to protect it from future predations by the taxman. I don't think the family still live in it.
I think (but am not sure) many of the major stately homes survived the horrendous death duties of the mid 1900s but lots of the smaller ones didn't and, as has been said, were bequeathed to the National Trust or similar, turned into schools, luxury apartments with grounds, offices for institutions, health spas, etc.
Oh, they most definitely do live in it, at least for some of the year.