Today I visited the Shugborough Estate, which was the home of the Earls of Litchfield. It’s not anymore. Now it belongs to the county and the National Trust because, unlike the Crawley family, the Anson family couldn’t come up with a way to pay the death duties. Another case of land rich but cash poor. Good news for the public, though, because now the house is open for gawkers like me.

Like Downton, the upstairs family lived quite differently from the downstairs servants. Here’s a comparison from the very posh to the spartan.

The family originally moved onto the land in 1624. This house wasn’t built until early 1700. Until then they lived in a relic of a medieval moated manor.

The house is absolutely enormous. We spent the day there and didn’t even see a third of the rooms.

The library was my favorite room. Imagine cozying up with a pot of tea and a good book here.