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"On the Sets of PBS's Downton Abbey\nAD talks with the designers of the British period drama\u2014a cult hit now in its second season\u2014about recreating the World War I era at Highclere Castle\n\"We wanted a house that architecturally dated from the mid- to late 19th century, in order to distinguish it from the many earlier houses used in previous period dramas,\" says Downton Abbey's production designer, Donal Woods. \"We spent a long time looking, and the search was a major part of our design process\u2014not to mention a major part of the casting.\" In the end, the estate was chosen for its distinctive character. Notes Woods, \"The great thing about Highclere's rooms is that they are all different in style, even though overall the house is Gothic Revival with Jacobethan and Italianate influences.\" Actor Hugh Bonneville, who plays the Earl of Grantham, is pictured here in Highclere's drawing room, leaning against a mantelpiece lined with early Victorian porcelain urns.\nWhile Downton Abbey is mostly filmed on location at Highclere, scenes in the downstairs servant areas and state bedrooms are actually shot on sets built at Ealing Studios in West London. \"The servant's quarters at the castle, as at nearly every large house in Britain, have been converted into offices, storerooms, modern kitchens, et cetera, so we knew these areas would have to be built on a stage,\" says Woods. Emphasizing the upstairs-downstairs contrast, those sets are as dim and spartan as the \"above stairs spaces are rich, lavish, and elegant,\" he explains. \"The show is about two separate worlds under one roof.\" Oscar-winning actress Dame Maggie Smith plays Downton Abbey's colorful matriarch, the Dowager Countess of Grantham.\nTo create an authentic portrayal of England in the 1910s, the designers poured over old photographs of interiors and interviewed experts at the National Army Museum in London for the scenes in the current season that take place in battlefield tents and bunkers. Matthew Crawley, played by Dan Stevens, is pictured here with his cousin Lady Mary Crawley, played by Michelle Dockery, in the Gothic-arched entrance hall, during a concert to benefit the war effort.\nWhile the designers kept most of Highclere's furnishings and art, they brought in some period furniture, picture frames, dishware, cutlery, crystal, and lamps. \"We updated the lighting to show the transition from gas to electric fixtures that was taking place then,\" says set decorator Judy Farr. Lady Sybil Crawley, played by Jessica Brown-Findlay, models a controversial dress in a scene shot in Highclere's drawing room, whose walls are covered in bolts of green French silk given in 1895 by Alfred de Rothschild to his daughter Almina, wife of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon.\nNothing in the house could be touched without permission, and many things could not be moved due to their value. \"We have all filmed in some of the great houses of Britain and respect and appreciate that they are full of priceless treasures, and, one has to remember, they are still family homes,\" says Woods. American actress Elizabeth McGovern as Cora, Countess of Grantham, sits on an antique sofa in the library.\nThe sets did not change from the first to second season, except for those added for some scenes on battlefields and in pubs. Shooting for the current season lasted approximately seven months\u2014between Highclere, Ealing Studios, and Bampton, which is among the oldest villages in England. \"Our prep time was seven weeks initially, and once we started shooting we rolled from one episode and director to another,\" says Farr. \"Continuity became a factor, as a shot involving a cup of tea carried upstairs by a servant in Ealing can show up three weeks later on a tabletop in Highclere.\" Pictured here is a scene in the drawing room with Sir Anthony Strallan, played by Robert Bathurst, and Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael.\nThese photographs of Highclere's stone gateposts and grand library were shot by Derry Moore for the January/February 1979 issue of Architectural Digest. To see the complete story, click here."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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