It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every Jane Austen lover, must be in want of the next adaptation that will bring one of their favourite Regency novels to the big screen. For those who count themselves among lovers of the worlds created by Miss Austen, there has been a growing interest lately in new and different film and television productions of stories from this era (thank you, Bridgerton!).
And with a new adaptation of Persuasion starring Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, and Henry Golding that just came out, we thought it fitting to showcase some of the actual houses that have appeared in films based on Jane Austen's books. Don't despair; rest assured that you will find Pemberley among them.
1. Basildon Park
Basildon Park is best known for playing the part of Netherfield Park, in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, where the dance scene between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy takes place. In 1771, the wealthy Englishman Sir Francis Sykes bought the original mansion that stood on the site to build the house we know today. He used Bath stone for a Palladian-style building, in fashion in the late 18th century.
2. Lyme Park House
This house with more than 600 years of history behind it has been adapted, renovated, and expanded over the centuries by the Legh family who have occupied it since the time of Queen Elizabeth I. You may recognise the lake that forms part of its gardens as the location where Colin Firth famously shot the scene in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice in which Mr. Darcy goes for a swim, and to Elizabeth's surprise emerges soaking wet from head to toe.
3. Montacute House
Set in the green countryside of Somerset, Montacute House was the backdrop for Emma Thomson's acclaimed 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, when Marianne Dashwood, aggrieved by Willoughby's betrayal, falls ill at the Palmer family’s Cleveland House which was only a few miles from the home of her former love.
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4. Chatsworth House
When Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle Gardiner consider spending time as tourists in the Derbyshire area in Austen's 1813 book, one of the places they are especially excited to visit is Chatsworth House. Who would have thought that almost two hundred years later, in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, that same estate would go down in movie history as Mr. Darcy's Pemberley. Home to 16 generations of Dukes of Devonshire, the house holds a vast collection of marble statues. And if you were wondering… Yes, you will see the marble bust of Matthew Macfadyen, who starred in the film as Fitzwilliam Darcy, if you're lucky enough to wander around this historic house.
5. Belton House
Its construction overseen by mason William Stanton between 1685 and 1688, Belton House played the part of the opulent estate of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1995 miniseries, Pride and Prejudice. As Mr. Collins put it, there is no greater honour than an invitation to dine at that estate. For once, we agree with the pompous Mr. Collins.
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6. Wilton House
Located in Salisbury and owned by the Earls of Pembroke, Wilton House has been in their family for nearly 500 years. Its stunning interiors have appeared in several Jane Austen adaptations, and it served as the setting for series such as The Crown, with its halls filling in for those of Buckingham Palace.
Some of the rooms and the library were used to portray the interior of Pemberley in director Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice. One of the larger rooms appears as well in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility, in a London party scene in which Marianne finally meets but is then ignored by Willoughby. And if that were not enough, the house is seen in the most recent film adaptation of Emma, as George Knightley's property, Donwell Abbey, where Knightley lives alone after his brother marries Emma's sister.
7. Royal Crescent
While we didn't know too much in advance about the locations that will appear in the next latest big-screen version of Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, which premiered on Netflix on July 15, one thing was always going to be clear from the story: that the historic town of Bath would appear. Famous for its first-century Roman baths and the healing properties of the area's waters, Bath developed into an upper class spa destination in the 18th and 19th centuries. The city's most famous building is undoubtedly the Royal Crescent, a row of thirty houses built between 1767 and 1774, and a fine example of Georgian architecture of the period. More recently, two of the townhouses within the crescent were converted into a spa hotel that evokes the Regency era that so many of us long to visit through Austen’s works, on paper and their film adaptations.
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