The real-life mansion where the character Lady Violet Crawley on Downton Abbey lives has hit the market for about $6.2 million.
Byfleet Manor plays the role of the Dower House, home to the sharp-tongued matriarch Lady Violet, played by Maggie Smith. The manor encompasses eight bedrooms and four reception rooms on 19 acres. Savills has the £3.95 million listing.
In addition to its dramatic chops, Byfleet Manor also has quite the historic pedigree. It first hits the annals in 1086 when it made an appearance in the Domesday Book, a survey of property completed under orders of William the Conqueror, for taxation purposes. By 1307, the Manor of Byfleet was a royal hunting lodge, owned by the Crown for three centuries.
Kings Edward I and II stayed frequently at Byfleet, and Edward III gifted the manor to his mother Isabella as part of her dower, or share of her deceased husband's fortune. Edward III's son Edward of Woodstock, known as The Black Prince, bred horses at Byfleet Manor. Henry VIII is said to have spent portions of his childhood there, and he granted the home to Katherine of Aragon in her divorce. Queen Elizabeth I visited Byfleet in 1576. The Queen Consort Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, was the last royal known to live in the home. She died in 1619.
As it stands today, Byfleet Manor was rebuilt around 1686, though the heavy timber staircase and many fireplaces from a prior version of the manor remain in place.
Byfleet Manor was selected as Lady Violet's home because "We wanted to deliberately pull Violet back into that Georgian world," says production designer Donal Woods.
Dower House is not the only dramatic role the historic home has played. Byfleet Manor also starred in Agatha Christie's Poirot and Cranford, a British period series. It was Cinderella's home in the film Into the Woods.
“For all its fame, Byfleet Manor is actually located in an idyllic location at the end of a winding country lane on fringe of the nearby village, discreetly positioned for privacy and security," says Simon Ashwell, head of Savills Weybridge. "From the Domesday Book to Downton Abbey, prospective buyers are being offered the chance to be part of a significant piece of history.”
Byfleet lies about 20 miles from the center of London and 15 miles from Heathrow Airport. In addition to the main home, four additional lots with three residential buildings and a development plot are available for sale. Ashwell says Savills is looking for a buyer for the main home first.
