[adamson]

Why was upkeep that expensive? Would you be maintaining the entire estate as a perfectly manicured garden?

[steve19]

What would be the point in buying one and letting the gardens go, not maintaining a stable and all your neighbors laughing behind your back.

[puranjay]

"He doesn't have even a single thoroughbred stallion...pffft"

[ouid]

that actually sounds like a lot of fun.

[1123581321]

In addition to the points mentioned, upkeep is really continued development that must be performed within historically set constraints. I found this short video about the work at Euston Hall interesting—though Grafton inherited the estate, he came from the music industry in Nashville as a relative outsider with an eye for costs and revenue. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hypmo53fWfw

[762236]

That number sounds like it covers salaries for the help.

[TheOtherHobbes]

Live-in housekeeping is around £50k a year for a couple - not bad for living rent-free on a nice estate - although I used to know someone who provided house-keeping for much less in return for not having to pay for rent and food. So cheaper options are possible.

Gardening is maybe £25-30k/yr, unless the estate is absolutely huge.

Heating will cost a lot in the UK. So will maintenance, especially if there's significant land involved. Roads, fences, walls, drains, sewers, and so on are all more expensive than most people realise, and large estates are usually listed, so there are expensive restrictions and maintenance obligations.

But I'm not quite seeing how that would add to up £500k for a £1.5m estate - which would be fairly small, even with the way prices were back then. I'd have expected something closer to £100k to £200k.