The Downton Abbey Exhibition Is Coming to the Biltmore Estate This Fall

It’s been more than three years since Downton Abbey went off the air, but many fans still can't get enough of the hit period drama about post-Edwardian England. Thankfully, the Downton Abbey movie is coming to theaters in September, and "Downton Abbey: The Exhibition," which features actual costumes and sets from the award-winning TV series, has been feeding fans' need for more since it first opened in New York City in a Victorian-era building near Columbus Circle in the fall of 2017. After a second revival in West Palm Beach, Florida, in the fall of 2018 and a stop at The Castle at Boston’s Park Plaza (where it is currently on view), the interactive exhibit is heading to a very special location in November: the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Memorabilia will be showcased in two locations on the 8,000-acre estate in the scenic Blue Ridge mountains, which was built by the Vanderbilt family and is known as America’s largest home. At the Amherst at Deerpark event venue, multimedia presentations will breathe life into such iconic sets as Mrs. Patmore’s kitchen and the always-bustling servants’ quarters. At the Biltmore Legacy, located in Antler Hill Village, more than 50 costumes from the series will be on display alongside the estate’s more long-standing exhibitions, such as "The Vanderbilts At Home and Abroad." The exhibit also features high-tech additions, such as scenes from the original show played out using CGI in the “library" set and interactive stations where visitors can test whether they are are fit enough for a servant’s position. Actress Sophie McShera (Daisy Mason) previously told The New York Times that walking through the New York exhibit took her back to her time on the set. “It’s all exactly the same,” she said.

In a statement to Town and Country, the Biltmore's director of entertainment and event programming Travis Tatham noted the "many parallels" between the show’s protagonist Cora Crawley and the real-life Consuelo Vanderbilt, the American heiress who married the Duke of Marlborough in a bid to save the family’s estate of Blenheim Palace. And though future iterations have yet to be announced, the website does state that “we anticipate that the exhibition will travel to other locations.” Tickets are available at the Biltmore website.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest