#driehausdownton

The Driehaus is a pretty swell old house. Of the handful of preserved mansions I’ve seen in the Chicago area, this is probably the most impressive.

Wood paneling, marble, nice paintings? Yup, of course. What do those other houses not have though? A green, glass dome like a younger sibling of the Cultural Center’s Tiffany centerpiece. It’s worth the price of entrance alone and reaffirms that, yes, the rich really do get all the nice things.

The rich behind the Driehaus history are a chain of who-remembers from a bygone era of probably defunct industries. I mean, I could do my WIkipedia diligence, but I didn’t go into the Driehaus for a history lesson this time. I went to see the Downton Abbey dresses duh.

The mansion really was the perfect backdrop to showcase costumes from the just-ended Masterpiece Theatre series. It’s also a testament to how solidly built the TV costumes were--museum pieces in themselves.