We Build LEGO Downton Abbey, a Stately Set That's Worthy of the Crawley Name

I’ve seen the full run of Downton Abbey more than once – I’m talking all six seasons of the show, plus the three follow-up movies. I even recently bought the Ultimate Legacy Collection, which means another rewatch is likely in the near future (after the fourth season of The Gilded Age concludes, anyway).

During the hundred-plus hours I’ve spent in the company of the Crawleys and co., I’ve become intimately familiar with the rooms and architecture of the massive building of the title.

Downton Abbey is where the series’ massive cast of characters live and work. It’s where they clash with each other and make up (or don’t). It’s where they get sick and die (or get better). It’s where they fret about money, or get sent off to war, or make major life decisions that will affect their futures. It’s where they live their eventful early 20th-century lives.

The fictional building Downton Abbey is based on (and often filmed at) the very real Highclere Castle, which was built in 1679 in southern England. It’s a sprawling manor that has three full floors, with towers springing from the corners and center of the building.

LEGO Ideas Downton Abbey (see it at LEGO) stays true to the real castle’s design, but shrinks it down to minifigure scale, with just two main stories and the towers. Rather than depicting the entire building, which would likely be tedious to build and hide the interior rooms, the set focuses on the front facade. The back of the set is open to reveal six rooms anyone who’s watched the show would recognize.

Shrinking Downton Abbey down this way works beautifully. The exterior is finely detailed, with over a dozen windows, as well as downspouts, pinnacles, and an ornate heraldic stone portico over the entrance, just like the real castle.

Building such a large set took me many hours, over the course of a couple of weeks. It’s comprised of nearly 5,000 pieces, with the bricks divided into 35 bags and the building instructions separated into two books. Despite the time it takes, the build itself is generally enjoyable, especially when you’re making all the little furniture and items that bring the rooms to life.

Just like in the show, the interior of LEGO Downton Abbey are divided between the “upstairs,” where the Crawleys live and work, and the “downstairs,” where the domestic servants prepare the food and take their breaks. Upstairs are the Crawley’s dining room, main hall, and grand library. Downstairs are the kitchen, servants' hall, and the office of Carson the butler.

The set is large overall, but dividing two floors into six rooms means each room is relatively small. The LEGO designers have made the most of the space, packing lots of distinctive details into each area. Upstairs, the grand library alone has bookcases and curtains lining the walls, as well as a couch, a pot of flowers, a writing desk, and a fireplace. Downstairs, the servants’ hall has two rows of bells on one wall, just like you see in the opening credits of the show. In Carson’s office, his desk is adorned with a wine decanter, a lamp, and an old-school telephone. It’s always fun to see how just a few bricks can transform into an identifiable object in the house.

Since Downton Abbey has a notably large cast of characters, it’s only fitting that this LEGO set comes with a slew of minifigures. You get 13 in all, including most of the main characters we follow throughout the series. All of the women in dresses come with an alternate pair of legs that allow them to sit down as well.

The only part of the set that’s somewhat of a drag to build is the exterior walls, which are made of lots of repeated parts. This is a big, heavy set, and to sustain the weight, the walls have to be structurally sound. That means you have to build lots of the same thick, complex corner pieces to situate throughout the build. This is to be expected in a set based on a large building, but I found doing just a bag or two a day helped ward off the potential boredom.

Once the build is complete, the entire second story of the house can be lifted neatly off, giving you easy access to the lower interior rooms. The floors of both levels are sturdily built; they feel strong enough that you can move each story of the manor without worrying that the whole thing will fall apart in your hands.

The final piece of the build is the bench that sits under the cedar tree near the manor. In the show, you’ll often find Lady Mary sitting there, or the Dowager Countess.

I realize you have to be a pretty die-hard Downton Abbey fan to drop $349.99 on a LEGO set. But if you are, and you have the cash, you won't regret picking it up. It’s intricately designed, with lots of notable details from the show. It’s a largely enjoyable (if occasionally tedious) build, and the large cast of minifigures is delightful and full of personality. I enjoyed my time with this set as one more way to immerse myself in the world of Downton Abbey, at least until my next binge through the show.

LEGO Ideas Downton Abbey is available exclusively through the LEGO Store.