Chapter 49 Repair Plan

Saturday, July 7th.

On this morning, the Rolls-Royce spray-painted with the crest of the Duke of Devonshire family, after picking up Bonnie, was on the road to Chatsworth Manor.

When she approached Chatsworth Manor, Bonnie saw the familiar scenery with a smile on her face:

"Barron, look, there's a little deer over there...no, there's a group of them, they're in the woods, they're so cute!"

It can be seen that Bonnie is in a great mood when she comes here again.

For Barron's personal assistant Wang Wanting, who was sitting in the passenger seat at this time, this was her first time in such a magnificent aristocratic manor.

It was not like she had never visited this kind of British aristocratic manor in the past, but those manors pale in comparison to Chatsworth.

With more than 100 rooms, Chatsworth Manor can be regarded as the second largest manor building in the UK in terms of scale.

As for the first place, it is Blenheim Palace, also known as Churchill Manor, owned by the Churchill family of the famous British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It is the only manor called Palace in the UK.

Churchill Manor was built by Queen Anne in order to thank John Churchill (the ancestor of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill) for his military exploits in the Battle of Blenheim. It was given to the first Duke Churchill, so it was named Palace to show his sincerity.

A gift from the Queen. Does it sound sincere?

Unfortunately, the Queen died in the middle of the construction, and the financial chain was broken. The first Duke had to pay for it out of his own pocket to continue the construction for many years, and the family almost went bankrupt.

"Your Excellency, you are finally back..."

The Rolls-Royce stopped at the door of the mansion. The gilded iron door of the manor mansion was wide open. The butler Sean and a group of servants greeted Barron at the door.

Barron gave Sean a hug affectionately:

"Butler Sean, you look very good today."

Although he was slightly startled by Barron's hug that did not conform to the traditional aristocratic etiquette, the smile in the eyes of the butler Sean could not be hidden.

"Hello, Mr. Sean, we meet again."

Bonnie saluted Butler Sean and said happily.

"Welcome to Chatsworth, it's great to see you again."

…

Entering the mansion of Chatsworth Manor, both Bonnie, who had been here once, and Wang Wanting, who was here for the first time, were shocked by the luxury inside.

As soon as you enter the hall, you can see magnificent murals around and at the top, depicting the life of Julius Caesar.

After passing through the hall, you enter the dazzling sculpture gallery...

The most eye-catching one is a sculpture of a girl wearing tulle.

This sculpture is extremely famous and was created by the 19th-century Italian sculptor Raffaelle Monti. It is called "A Veild Vestal Virgin".

The gauze on the head of the girl sculpture is as thin as cicada wings, and the carving of the entire sculpture is amazing!

Barron called the butler Sean to the study to discuss matters. Bonnie, who had already been here once, took Wang Wanting to continue to visit the Chatsworth Manor mansion.

Including the Queen's bedroom and dressing room when the ancestors of the Devonshire family were ordered to imprison Queen Mary...

When Queen Victoria was 13 years old and still a princess, she attended the first formal dinner in her life at the North Wing Restaurant, which marked the princess' official entry into the adult social world...

The first Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, stayed in the bedroom when he visited Chatsworth Manor with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert - this was the bedroom carefully designed for him by the sixth Duke of Devonshire at the time. The walls were decorated with exquisite Chinese-style wallpaper, which was very fashionable at the time...

It can be said that many well-known British historical figures have left their mark on Chatsworth.

…

"Butler Sean, I wonder if you have asked someone to calculate how much it would cost if our Chatsworth Manor, including the mansion and gardens, were to be completely repaired?"

This is one of Barron's main purposes for returning to Chatsworth this time. When he came here before, he had already discovered that many places in the manor were obviously a little old.

Moreover, although the manor has undergone some modern renovations, wires and networks have only been installed in some rooms, which is still far from the convenient modernization that Barron hoped for.

After understanding what Barron meant, butler Sean said:

"Your Majesty the Duke, in fact, our manor has only undergone some partial repairs and renovations over the years. The entire mansion has more than a hundred rooms. If it is like you said, all the rooms and halls, as well as the outer walls, plus If the gardens and some roads are completely renovated and renovated, it will probably cost tens of millions of pounds or even more... For specific figures, we need to hire a professional agency to estimate."

"Then let's make an estimate first, Butler Sean."

"Are you really prepared to do this? Your Majesty, this will probably be a very large expenditure..."

"Yes, but whether it will be carried out immediately depends on getting specific figures. After all, Chatsworth has been around for too long and always needs thorough repairs. I hope it will continue to be in its best condition."

"As you command, Your Majesty the Duke."

Since 1894, the British government has imposed heavy taxes on the nobility, with the highest inheritance tax rate reaching 80%.

This turned the manor from a symbol of power in the past into a hot potato for the established nobles.

In addition to the high inheritance tax, the daily maintenance of the manor was also expensive. Many nobles had to sell their manor homes and collections of art to make up for their financial shortfalls.

The heirs who choose to stick to the manor are often miserable. They guard the mansion and the house full of treasures, but are burdened with huge debts and live a life of poverty. Some even claim to be poorer than beggars.

If it's so hard, why not sell the estate? Perhaps this is the commitment of the British nobles to their ancestors and their persistence in tradition.

Since 1900, 1,200 manors have been demolished in England alone!

In 1950, manors were being demolished at the fastest rate in history, with one manor disappearing every five days across the UK.

Some lucky manor owners handed over full rights to their properties and converted them into museums, schools, hospitals, or prisons, which was a not-so-bad confession to their ancestors.

Most of the manors have been demolished or abandoned.

At first, the awareness of cultural relic protection in England was not strong, and the people did not feel it was a pity that the manor was demolished—perhaps they were also happy that the old landlord was overthrown.

However, in 1974, an exhibition called "The Ruined Manor" at the Victoria and Albert Museum made the British people aware of the historical significance of the manor.

In this climate of public opinion, the National Trust, a charity that protects British cultural heritage, has become a refuge for British estates.

However, there are only a few manors that can generate income through open tours or other activities. Most manors require continuous investment in repairs and maintenance, so they have become a heavy burden for these related non-profit organizations.

If someone is willing to buy it, they will often sell it to the other party at a low price, and only ask them to ensure the maintenance of the manor - even if they sell it for 1 pound, they need to bear millions of repair funds.

It can be said that compared with most manors, Chatsworth Manor is lucky.

In addition to the fact that the Devonshire family has always stayed here and never given up their ancestral business, as the second largest manor in England, it has many shining deeds in British history. It is also easier to attract tourists...

Now Barron hopes to make Chatsworth Abbey more topical through the "Downton Abbey" novel and subsequent film and television works based on it.

At the same time, a thorough renovation will be carried out here so that it can be presented to the world in a more perfect manner.

Of course, carrying out such repairs requires a lot of funds. That is to say, the purchasing power of the pound is still very strong, the exchange rate is also at a high level, and the cost of raw materials and labor-including the cost of experts for such ancient buildings-has not yet been reached. Extremely exaggerated...

Otherwise, if it were twenty years later, the cost of a complete renovation of a manor of this size would easily reach hundreds of millions - for example, the ten-year renovation of Buckingham Palace twenty years later is expected to cost £369 million.

Of course, Buckingham Palace is much larger than Chatsworth Manor, with nearly 800 rooms...

But even now, large-scale repairs and modernization of Chatsworth Manor would probably cost at least 15 million pounds.

The data during the new book period is related to subsequent recommendations, so follow-up reading is very important. I beg you not to keep it all the time. If you feel that it is okay, read it every day to help increase follow-up reading. Thank you very much.