What Does It Cost To Own A British Country Estate

What It Costs to Own Your Own Downton Abbey -- CNBC

You don't have to be the Earl of Grantham to own your own British country estate. But it helps to have a royal-sized fortune to burn.

With this week's premiere of the third season of "Downton Abbey," we decided to take a look at what it costs to buy, own and maintain a grand estate in the U.K. Rupert Sweeting, head of the Country Department of Knight Frank in London, said that the biggest costs of owning a country estate are the staff.

He said that for a "moderate-sized" 1,500 acre spread, you'll need a butler, cook, secretary, groundspeople and cleaning staff.

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My Comment: To put it bluntly .... you need a lot of money to run your own "Downtown Abbey".

What Does It Cost To Keep A $100 Million House?

Yuri Milner's $100 Million Mansion. Forbes

The $100 Million House: What It Really Costs -- Yahoo News/Investopedia.com

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a $100 million house? Just ask billionaire business investor Yuri Milner. His purchase of the 25,000 square foot Silicon Valley home breaks the record for highest priced sale of a single-family home in America.

Milner made his fortune by investing in some of the biggest names in the online world, including Facebook, Groupon and Zynga. He is also the head of Digital Sky Technologies. Milner is certainly enjoying the billionaire lifestyle. His home sits on 11 acres of land and has a ballroom, home theater, gym, spa, formal dining room, two swimming pools, a tennis court and a wine cellar. For all of you aspiring millionaires (and billionaires) out there who dream of living large, let's look at what kind of financial resources it takes to own a home like Milner's.

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My Comment: The bottom line .... considering the estimated annual costs of owning a home like this, you could be looking at paying about $7 million per year just for mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and upkeep.