When Jim Lane asked his wife how she wanted to celebrate her upcoming birthday last month, Karen, a self-proclaimed fan of British history and literature, architecture and the popular television show “Downtown Abbey,” only had one answer.
“He asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. ‘You know, I don’t know’,” Karen said in reply. “He said, ‘Well, do you want to go any place?’ And I said, ‘The only place I want to go is Highclere Castle.’”
Although no public tours were being held at the castle around the time of her birthday, which was Oct. 17, a private tour of the home, the location where much of the television show was filmed, was being held Oct. 19.
Thus, the couple set out across the pond to predominantly tour Highclere, but while in the United Kingdom Jim and Karen also saw Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill’s grave site, a production of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in Piccadilly Circus, Beaulieu, which features a castle and car museum to the southwest of London, and Wroxton College, where Karen took a master’s degree course as a young woman.
In previous trips to London, Karen has toured Blenheim, Hampton Court, Warwick Castle and Sudeley Castle & Gardens.
“So, I’ve been to all the major castles except for Buckingham Castle,” Karen said. “So, if I go (again) I’ll put that on my bucket list. That’s right. Buckingham on the bucket list.”
Among the castles she has visited, Highclere seemed the most homey, she said.
“I thought it was one of the most beautiful castles I’ve ever seen, well preserved and interesting rooms, and I’ve seen a lot of castles,” Karen said. “It was more like a home than some of the places I’ve been to.”
She said palaces like Hampton Court and Blenheim, although they served as domiciles for historical figures Henry VIII and John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, respectively, have more of a museum-like feel today.
“Highclere Castle, you could tell that that was somebody’s home, even though it was very beautiful and certainly not like my house, which is not bad, but it was more like you could imagine people living there,” Karen said. “Where these other palaces and castles around the world are more like museums. You can’t imagine anybody living there.”
“Downtown Abbey” crews used Highclere Castle to film outside and indoor scenes in the show, with the exception of the kitchen, which was recreated at an off-site studio.
Karen said viewing the home in person versus on TV was a unique experience.
“It’s not so much what it was like at the time,” Karen said. “It’s like going forward when I watch the show, and I see them in the rooms, I can say I was there.”
Seeing Highclere Castle in person made the TV show feel more realistic, Jim said when reflecting on the couple’s trip.
“For me, it was like having watched something on TV, and then all the sudden seeing yourself right there,” Jim said. “And when you’re looking at the great hall, your mind reflected back on all the scenes that you had seen filmed in that same room. It kind of made the entire thing come alive.”
Karen said she was a fan of “Downtown Abbey,” which spans a period between 1912-1923, because of the picturesque scenes in the show and the august nature of the time period.
“I like the show because it’s aesthetically very beautiful, the clothes, the surroundings, the whole idea of grace,” she said. “I like to entertain; I like to dress for dinner.”
She said she was also drawn to the show because of her interest history and how world events tend to mold generations of people.
“The other thing is seeing a change in time, a time when there were servants and there was class distinction, and then seeing that changing as wars changed people, as World War I changed people, as World War II then changed people and realizing that some things are not as important as they used to be.”
Although most parts of the trip to England were enjoyable for the couple, Jim and Karen said two parts of the journey, eating and securing transportation, proved an expensive endeavor.
“The food was good,” Karen said. “I don’t think there was anytime that we didn’t enjoy what we were eating, except that it was terribly expensive.”
Likewise, although the couple was used to driving in Great Britain, the rental car itself came with a steep price tag.
“We both have driven in England before. We rented a car, so the experience is the cars are bigger, the traffic is greater and the streets seem narrower,” Karen said with a laugh.
“Rental cars are more expensive” than in the United States, Jim added. “I’m not sure whether I rented it or made the first payment.”
As a fan of architecture, another important highlight of the trip, as in previous treks to England, was having an appreciation for 18th century Baroque country home designs like Blenheim.
“If I had my life to live over again I would have been an architect,” Karen said.
