LONDON — As “Downton Abbey” moves from the television screen to movie theaters, the real-life setting of the period drama is bracing for a renewed surge of interest.
Highclere Castle, the grand English country house in Hampshire that is used as the fictional home of the Crawley family, has drawn hundreds of thousands of paying visitors since the drama made its debut on television in 2010.
The recent release of its follow-up movie is certain to extend the fascination with Julian Fellowes’s “upstairs downstairs” story of life in a stately country home, and experts say that the renewed buzz will most likely lift interest in real estate in the area, too.
The Highclere Estate, about 65 miles west of London, and the nearby lush green lanes and pretty pubs and churches have always been unbilled co-stars of the “Downton” phenomenon.
“There are now a lot of privately owned period properties on the edge of estates like Highclere or in the surrounding villages that get a lot of advantages from being so close,” said Mark Lawson, a partner at the Buying Solution, a buying advisory firm.
“A lot of stately homes were obviously built in beautiful areas to begin with, and many of those areas are now quite special, because they have been protected over the centuries because of their historical significance,” he said.
Research by the Halifax bank during the final season of “Downton Abbey” in 2015 found that the “halo effect” generated by interest in the drama was broad; over the preceding decade, the prices of properties around other stately homes had risen 39 percent, or nearly twice the national average of 22 percent.
“We don’t have clients saying ‘I want to buy a house near Downton Abbey!’ but we do notice that a lot of people are more aware of these properties because of the show,” Mr. Lawson said. “At the moment, I have American and Indian clients who I know are certainly aware of Highclere because of ‘Downton Abbey.’”
Nick Loweth, the head of the Knight Frank office in Hungerford, nine miles from Highclere Estate, said that he had noticed a general increase in interest and awareness of the area since the show began.
“People come here for other reasons, like all the good schools in the area and the natural beauty and tranquillity of the place, and the fact that you really are in the countryside but you can still commute into London,” he said. “But it has to help that they are starting off with mental images of the place and a vague idea of its history.”
Damian Gray, the head of Knight Frank’s North Thames and Chiltern region, said he believed that the TV drama had a particularly clear effect on Bampton, the Oxfordshire village that plays the role of Downton village in both the series and the movie.
“Before ‘Downton Abbey,’ Bampton wasn’t at all on the map,” he said. “The show has added a sprinkle of glamour and encouraged both buyers and tourists to the area.”
“Buyers from the U.K., U.S. and Asia do now come looking for property in Bampton,” Mr. Gray said. “It often comes up in conversation when potential buyers are listing off Oxfordshire villages and towns. ‘What’s that place that’s been on the TV?’ is something you often hear.”
Mr. Loweth said that any stardust from the “Downton” movie would be especially welcomed by sellers after three years of uncertainty since the Brexit referendum.
“Sales have been picking up lately, and the weak pound is a big plus when it comes to foreign buyers, but all the uncertainty has obviously limited both supply and demand for attractive period properties,” he said.
James Moran, who is hoping that the attention generated by the movie will help him sell his five-bedroom home in Highclere village, less than a mile from the castle, said that “before the ‘Downton’ story came along, almost nobody knew about Highclere Castle except a few avid historians.”
“The TV show catapulted it into the top five best-known historical buildings in the country, so that sort of profile has to help the area,” he said.
“Hopefully, the movie includes lots of shots of the countryside and the surrounding area, and that will make more people aware that this is a lovely place to live,” he added.
While millions of Americans watched the TV series, Mr. Moran said he expected his house to appeal mainly to British buyers, especially those working in London.
Mr. Moran has made that hourlong commute for 11 years, but he and his wife, Lou, are moving because the younger of their two sons is starting at a new school two hours away, in Dorset.
Their home, Brookfields House, is set on 1.9 acres of manicured gardens and lawns and is on sale for 1.39 million pounds, or about $1.7 million.
Dating to the 1700s, it has a dining room and a drawing room that are old enough to feature low ceilings and exposed beams, but its more modern elements include a large en suite bathroom off the master bedroom and a recently renovated entertainment room above a two-car garage.
In the steady traffic heading to Highclere Castle, thousands of visitors have passed the “For Sale” sign for another property in the village: Pyke’s House. The two-story six-bedroom home with exterior stonework carries the initials of the first owner, the local brickmaker John Pyke, who had the house built in 1874 and also provided the bricks used to build Highclere Castle.
Inside, the drawing room has a grand fireplace and views in three directions over two garden areas and a patio.
Harry Fisher, an agent at Savills in Newbury, five miles from Highclere, said the sales campaign for the £1.75 million property “can only have been helped by the influx of visitors to the area.”
Prices there have been stable, he said, because despite the Brexit uncertainty, “we have quite a robust local market, thanks to our good rail and road links and the excellent schools all around here.”
Rose Cottage, in nearby Newtown Common, would appeal to any “Downton” fans who share the Crawley family’s love of horses. Its 2.6 acres have been configured into horse paddocks with extensive stables. Parts of the four-bedroom house are about 200 years old, while modern additions include a 10-year-old extension near the kitchen and several skylights.
Pentico is a thatched-roof 18th-century two-bedroom home that one could imagine serving as the retirement haven of Downton’s former head butler, Mr. Carson. Originally made of wattle and daub but now plastered, the property has a simple interior layout and is listed Grade II, or worthy of preservation, with an asking price of £785,000.
The surrounding fields are part of the Sydmonton Court estate owned by the composer and impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose holdings include the nearby Watership Down, the inspiration for another famous tale.
Another property bordering Mr. Lloyd Webber’s estate is Woodside Farm in nearby North Sydmonton. The five-bedroom 18th-century home overlooks its own tennis court and large gardens, and is being marketed by Knight Frank for £1.45 million.
For those with slightly grander property ambitions, Brockwell House, on the edge of Newbury, has an imposing layout featuring an indoor swimming pool and gym, a lawn tennis court, a well-appointed wine cellar and, like most of the period properties in the area, a cast-iron AGA range.
After relatively recent extensions, the three-story home has seven bedrooms, including a large master that sprawls out into two dressing areas and a large bathroom, and a mahogany-lined office boasting a doorway hidden behind a movable bookshelf.
It is on the market for £2.65 million through Mark Potter of Knight Frank’s Basingstoke office.
