We spent a weekend in someone's house and this was their staircase. A couple decided to retire, buy a derelict mansion and spend £500k doing it up. The result is they literally live in a house like Downton Abbey by themselves, until sometimes paying guests arrive. The house and grounds were both huge and stunning. I mostly admired the fact that they were willing to pour money into saving and restoring the house and grounds, especially as the occasional paying guests would never offset the costs, so they actually did it not to make money but because they wanted to.
