A review by nferre
Downton Shabby: One American's Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family's English Castle by Hopwood DePree

3.0

Light on the restoration and heavy on the cultural differences, this was a quick, enjoyable book - however, I would have to say, not memorable. I felt like DePree pretended to not know what a jumper was, or that the 1st floor in England is our 2nd floor in the States. Really? He had just travelled through Europe and that's fairly common all over Europe. Being from Hollywood maybe he had never seen a British movie? It felt like he put it in there for laughs from folks equally ignorant of British idiosyncracies. Having said that, some of the characters were terrific - specifically the caretaker and the undertaker - both gems.