The glittering, chaotic world of the Mitford sisters—six aristocratic siblings and their doomed brother, Tom—has fascinated the public for nearly a century, their lives reading like a novel too outrageous to be fiction. They made headlines in the 1930s and ’40s with their scandalous behavior and extreme politics, all of which is poised to hit the small screen as a mini series called Outrageous on BritBox June 18.
The Mitford sisters lived in Asthall Manor in Oxfordshire, England.
While we’re here for the sharp wit, internal rivalries, and cultural contradictions that made the Mitfords icons of their era, we couldn’t help but notice the grand estate in the backdrop that anchors every scene. “The estate we all grew up on had been in our family for hundreds of years,” Nancy Mitford (played by Bessie Carter) explains as the narrator of the series’ new trailer. “And for all that time, life had carried on here in very much the same way. But now, times were changing, and not just for my family—but for the world.”
Three of the Mitford sisters at Lord Stanley of Aldernay’s wedding in 1932. From left to right: Unity Mitford; Diana Mitford and writer Nancy Mitford.
The series is based on real-life events that kicked off when Nancy, the eldest sister, first made her debut in London society, becoming an author whose novels described the racy lifestyle of the aristocracy. Her sisters would follow in the limelight—one journalist described them as Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist; Unity the Hitler-lover; Deborah the Duchess; and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur (played by Joanna Vanderham, Zoe Brough, Shannon Watson, Orla Hill, and Isobel Jesper Jones, in the respective order).
The estate where the Mitford sisters live is shown in the series to be more than just a backdrop—it’s a living, breathing reflection of their eccentric, aristocratic world. It’s based on Asthall Manor, a gabled Jacobean Cotswold manor house in Asthall, Oxfordshire that was built in about 1620 and enlarged in about 1916.
In the trailer, every inch of the set is soaked in period detail. Grand yet slightly crumbling, elegant but never sterile, the house brims with layered floral fabrics, worn heirlooms, and rooms that hint at both privilege and rebellion. From sunlit drawing rooms to shadowy corridors, the estate captures the paradox of the Mitfords themselves: traditional on the surface, quietly explosive underneath.
Rachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publication’s feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 16 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.
