By Leigh Crandall
Hotels Expert, about.com
What is a weekend? Well, it's a good time to visit Highclere Castle in Newbury, West Berkshire, the Jacobethan-style English manor house known to Masterpiece enthusiasts as Downton Abbey. The property offers visitors the chance to stay on the 5,000-acre estate in one of two lodges, and they have recently opened dates for reservations for 2016.
Known as the London Lodge and
originally built by the first Earl of Carnarvon in 1793, the imposing
stone archway, dressed with Coade stone and filled by the heavy iron
gates, framed a grand entrance for family and visitors to the estate.
The individual lodges, to either side were added
later, around 1840. They were painstakingly restored by the current Earl
and his wife to provide unique and luxurious accommodation for two. The
London Lodge opened to guests last year and quickly sold out.
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Visitors at the Lodge can expect restored interiors using traditional lime plaster to the curved internal walls of the lodges.
[post_ads]Main rooms have large windows with bespoke oak
wooden shutters that are copies of the originals. The layout for both
lodges has been kept simple; to the north west, a sitting room arranged
around a Chesneys wood burner, and fully equipped kitchen behind. Then
across the lit, paved walkway to the bedroom lodge, a comfortable double
bedroom, bathroom and dressing area. In conjunction with Interior
Decorator Sarah Morris, Lady Carnarvon created elegant and inviting
spaces, using softly subtle Little Green and Farrow and Ball wall
colors, complimented by curtains and blinds in Nicholas Herbert and
Robert Kime fabrics.
Tickets are also available for a Valentine's Castle Tour and Afternoon Tea. Guests will be welcomed in to The Saloon, at the very heart of the Castle where a tour of the house will begin.
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Guides will take visitors through the State Rooms (many of which are featured on Downton Abbey),
explaining the history of the rooms and telling anecdotes from the
filming. Guests then have the change to explore the Egyptian Exhibition
in the atmospheric Cellars of the Castle, which tells the story of the
world famous discovery, in 1922, of the Tomb of Tutankhamun by the
5th Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter.
After the tour, visitors will be invited into the
State Dining Room to enjoy a Champagne Afternoon Tea. Highclere is also
offering tours of their gardens in May, and tickets for general admission to the castle during the summer go on sale in February.
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