What It's Really Like to Work at a House Like Downton Abbey Today. ... Hughes and the rest of the staff at Downton Abbey still exist today. Many of the great houses of England prevail (though they are as likely to be occupied by international billionaires with superyachts as they are by aristocrats).

Why are some houses called abbeys?

It's Downton, Not Downtown: And it's not about life at a convent or monastery as "abbey" might make you think! The sprawling estate—home to the aristocratic Crawley family and their household staff—was once an ecclesiastical property, hence the "abbey" in the title.

Do people still have butlers?

And although those butlers do still exist, times have changed. ... You might be surprised to hear it, but a Butler is still very relevant in modern society. They might look a little different, and have some different tasks. But the heart and soul of old fashioned butlering is, and will remain always there.