AN AMERICAN BILLIONAIRE IN ESSEX: TRUST/AUDLEY END

The American-born oil tycoon and billionaire J. Paul Getty was born in Minnesota, but in later life transferred to England, setting up home in the sumptuous 16^th century Tudor manor house Sutton Place near Guildford, Surrey, where he lived for the last 17 years of his life.  Getty was notorious for his sex drive, going through several wives, and even in his eighties there was a collection of what the New York Times described as “desperately hopeful women” hanging around his living quarters.  However, despite his enormous wealth and vast collection of art and antiques, he was less generous with his money than with his physical offerings, and the only female companion to receive more than a derisory amount in his will after his death was Penelope Kitson, an interior designer he developed a relationship with after hiring her for her decorating prowess. 

When Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in 1973 the mean side of his grandfather again came to light.  Believing that the kidnap was a ploy to extract money from him, he refused to pay a penny, not unreasonably since payment of a ransom in this case could have led to further kidnappings of members of the family. It was only the loss of an ear that finally moved grandfather Getty into action.  This is the backdrop of the stylish TV series Trust, with Donald Sutherland magnificently cast as J. Paul Getty and the elegantly turned out Anna Chancellor as Penelope Kitson.  Added to which, the role of Sutton Place is admirably played by the Essex property Audley End House near Saffron Walden, Essex.

AudleyEndHouse. Photo by Paul Wells, via Wikimedia Commons

The current owner of Sutton Place is a Russian oligarch, which meant the property could not be used for the filming, so the production team came up with Audley End as an alternative, and what a great choice it was.  In fact the production team are on record as believing that Audley End gave more gravitas to the filming than Sutton Place would have done.  Moreover, the extensive art collection contained in the property reflects the massive collection held by Getty at Sutton Place.

The property is a 17^th-century Jacobean estate located a short distance to the west of the attractive market town Saffron Walden.  The estate is run by English Heritage and consists of the house itself, a third of its original size, and the gardens which were designed by Capability Brown.  Highlights of the house are the Great Hall, the state apartments, dressing rooms and libraries, as well as an 18^th-century Gothic-style chapel.  One of the pivotal scenes in the series, in which Getty announces to the press that he will not pay the ransom, was shot in a long hall within the property.

However, not all the scenes were filmed at Audley End.  Some of the scenes, for example the scenes showing Getty dining with his bevy of ladies, were filmed at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, a property which has been used many times for filming, for example in My Week With Marilyn (see my previous blog post).  The reason for the change in location was that the dining room at Audley End was considered too small to make the necessary impact.

Dining room at Hatfield House-19478173458. Photo by Matt Brown, via Wikimedia Commons

Map of Audley End and Saffron Walden.