Chateau invites public to step back in time with new 'Downton Abbey' exhibition

As the inaugural exhibit in the renovated Chateau Theatre winds down, a new one is gearing up for the spring — and it’s making its world premiere in Rochester.

Fans of the PBS show Downton Abbey have reason to get excited. Dressing the Abbey, the newest exhibition from the Chateau, opened to the public on Monday. The exhibition features 35 original costumes used in the filming of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama, set in England during the 1920s. (For what it’s worth, the show also won a Costume Designers Guild Award in 2013 for “Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series.”) 

While the Chateau (and, by extension, Exhibits Development Group) is in charge of the exhibition, the vast majority of showcased costumes will sit in the Elizabethan Room of the Kahler Grand Hotel. Visitors purchase their tickets at the Chateau and walk through the skyway from the theater to the Kahler. Two more costumes are at the Olmsted County Historical Society, where they will be compared to styles from southeast Minnesota in the same time period. 

A news release from EDG cited the history and architecture of the Elizabethan Room as a main reason for its role as the main room in the exhibit, as opposed to keeping the whole exhibit inside the theater’s walls.

“The Elizabethan Room evokes the interiors of Highclere Castle, where much of Downton Abbey was filmed, and has been a premiere gathering place in Rochester since the Kahler Grand Hotel opened in 1921,” the release said.

There’s more to the exhibit than just the costumes, too. Mayo Clinic’s Heritage Days program will be on hand Wednesday for a “Lunch and Learn” program, tying the Mayo and Kahler families to the happenings of early 20th century England. Also, the Kahler will host “English High Tea” every Sunday afternoon through the exhibition. (Both events are ticketed.)

Dressing the Abbey runs through April 8.

Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.

Cover photo courtesy EDG