Australian couple spend $1.1 million on apartment where Bridgerton was filmed
A Bridgerton mad Aussie couple paid $1.1 million for a slice of English history, after it was used in the world’s hot new Netflix show.
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Australia has a new Duchess, although she is self-appointed.
A Bridgerton mad Australian couple paid $1.1 million for a slice of English history, buying a flat in Bath’s famous Royal Crescent sight unseen.
The couple, who have asked to remain anonymous, were infatuated with the property which features prominently in Netflix’s new series.
Now the owner’s family has been calling the woman who bought the property “the Duchess”.
Christine Penny, of UK Sotheby’s International Realty in Bath, said the couple were enthralled with Bridgerton and decided to take the property plunge.
“They were just taken by it, Bridgerton was just starting to be aired and the apartment in the Royal Crescent just came on the market,” Ms Penny said.
“It was the icing on the cake, they said we’ve bought a piece of that. (The Royal Crescent) is the most featured property in the show.”
Ms Penny said it was uncommon for anyone to purchase a property without an in-person viewing, however, COVID-19 restrictions had changed real estate habits.
A couple purchasing from Australia in such a way was rare, she added.
More than 80 million households worldwide have watched Bridgerton, which is based on the HarperCollins-published books by Julia Quinn. It follows the fortunes of Daphne Bridgerton, played by Phoebe Dynevor, the fourth of eight siblings, as she searches for a husband.
She becomes entangled with Rege-Jean Page, who plays Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings.
The plot was inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which was also the basis of the wildly popular Bridget Jones’s Diary books and movies.
Much of the Netflix series was filmed in Bath in 2019, before COVID-19 restrictions hit.
The town, two hours drive west of London, was also home to Austen in the early 1800s when the fictional show was set.
The Australian couple settled on the property on January 15 this year, shelling out $1.1 million for a one-bedroom apartment in the world heritage landmark.
The 55sqm apartment, on an upper floor, includes a living room and separate bedroom, with views across Bath that were fit for royalty.
The Royal Crescent Hotel, where rooms go for up to $2405 per night, is part of the building that connects with the apartment.
The building was completed in 1774, to a Druid design, said to resemble prehistoric monument Stonehenge, which is a 50-minute drive away.
Bath was used for filming as a replacement for homes in Knightsbridge and Mayfair in central London.
Actors were spotted in costume in the streets during filming, which took over the town of 100,000 people.
However, the new owners were unlikely to spot the film crews again, with plans to build an entire town set with the show slated to run for eight seasons.
stephen.drill@news.co.uk