The largest LEGO Ideas set (by piece count) is arriving soon in LEGO Ideas 21373 Downton Abbey! Based on the original fan submission from Sebastian Veselka (BRO3 on LEGO Ideas), this model features the Crawley family, their servants, and the beautiful Downton Abbey estate that was filmed at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England. The original fan submission was initially placed in the LEGO Ideas Parking Lot and eventually approved for production just seven months later, and the LEGO Ideas team including designers Marina Stampoli and Jordan David Scott had the monumental task of converting this sizable submission into an official LEGO product. Marina is an architect and had already designed the previously largest LEGO Ideas set (21356: River Steamboat), so the team was up to the task.
LEGO Ideas 21373 Downton Abbey | 4,711 Pieces | Available October 1 to LEGO Insiders, October 4 for all | US $349.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £269.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
The Box and Contents
Our box is truly castle-sized, and the weight was a bit of a surprise – though I suppose it shouldn’t be due to the piece count. At 4,711 pieces, this marks the largest LEGO Ideas set by piece count to date.
Inside we have 35 bags, a couple of loose plates, and our instruction booklets.
This set contains a small sticker sheet with just ten stickers to apply, which feels like a good balance between stickers and printed elements for such a large set. As we’ll see later, a lot of new prints went into the minifigures in this set. There are some wonderful easter eggs hidden within these stickers, but we’ll review those as we apply them!
The first instructions booklet contains a nice review of the show, the original fan submission, Highclere Castle, and notes from the LEGO Ideas design team.
The Build
As you might expect, we immediately begin laying the groundwork that will support the castle. We had an opportunity to meet with the design team, and I asked what the biggest challenge was in converting this model to an official LEGO product. Marina answered that the biggest challenge was the stability of the castle, and all of that is considered here from the very first bag.
The first layer of the outer walls implements various levels of depth and cleverly uses door rails to provide texture to the detailed castle exterior.
The next layer of the walls is pretty consistent throughout the build, and uses a combination of door rails and SNOT bricks/plates with tiles to allow everything to fit seamlessly together, like a puzzle. These are eventually locked into place by plates set on top.
The interior is assembled as the build progresses, and the first room is the servant’s hall. The bell board from the show’s introduction is an iconic feature of the show, and is depicted here with the first gold appearance for the plume feather. My favorite easter egg is hidden in here! Look closely and you’ll notice LEGO Room and Design Room hidden within the various rooms of the Crawley estate.
Remaining faithful to the show and which rooms had windows and which did not, the build makes smart use of plates with pointed wedge plates attached on the underside. This allows for the interior of some room to remain windowless, while still providing the appearance of curtained windows on the exterior. The 4×6 plate shown here also makes its first appearance in olive green.
The servants’ hall contains enough chairs to seat them all, and the two newspapers on the table reference the flower contest and the many weddings throughout the show. The initials ‘SV’ featured on both are a reference to fan designer Sebastian Veselka.
Mr. Carson’s office is next, filled with some silver and one of the enchanting telephones that caused such a stir in the house.
The front door is not functional, but provides some stability for the upper layer.
The kitchen is assembled next. Here’s another look at the curtain technique.
The kitchen table contains another reference to the fan designer, who is also a game designer. The black cube hidden beneath is a reference to a game that Sebastian designed.
The rest of the kitchen fixtures round out the room, and notably feature the first olive green appearance of the 1×2 jumper plate. Several of these are attached to the wall instead of the floor, making this another case where the curtain technique has paid off. The Tajine (or Tin Man’s hat, if you prefer) was introduced in this color in 2026’s Friends 42691 Garden Restaurant and makes its second ever appearance here.
The second floor begins the same as the first, but we’ve now entered into Crawley family territory and the floor is layered with hardwood and carpet.
The upper exterior introduces the spiky tuft minifigure hairpiece in tan. We will see it later in dark tan to provide detail for the castle wall.
The main hall sits in the middle of the upper portion and once again provides curtains for the front center windows, while the room itself remains closed.
Frogust may have just finished, but some frogs nevertheless make for excellent drainpipe detail.
The library contains several bookshelves built on their side. Here’s a closer look at the assembly.
The various paintings throughout the house required approval from the real Lord and Lady of Highclere Castle, as some of them make reference to actual paintings within the castle.
Furniture rounds out the library where so many important scenes take place.
The dining room is full of excellent part usage, as we see the newly introduced horns from the Pokémon sets used here for candlesticks.
LEGO designer Marina’s favorite part usage is in the dining room curtains, which cleverly use broom bristles and Technic connectors attached to the floor.
The dining room table is broken into three portions and once again contains enough chairs for all of the featured Crawley family to be seated.
The three towers of the castle each contain a specific colored piece hidden within. This is another nod to the fan designer, as these are his and each of his brother’s favorite color (after all, his alias is BRO3 on LEGO Ideas).
The center tower is adorned with detail and contains some elegant arches and a stickered element on the interior.
The side towers once again leverage the puzzle piece method utilized on the outer wall, but it’s even more satisfying seeing everything come together in a rectangular shape.
The aforementioned new dark tan minifigure hair piece sees plenty of use on the upper half of the castle.
Two statues sit above the front door. I love the minifigure head usage and proportions, as this feels like one of the more traditionally ‘LEGO’ portions of the build.
The heart-shaped plate base for the bench was a feature of the original fan submission, but it’s received a sizable upgrade here. The bench is a cute little build and features every’s favorite hot dog piece.
The tree comes together nicely, and has a decent stature in comparison to the minfigures while not overtaking the height of the castle in any way.
The Minifigures
The cast of characters in Downton Abbey is large, and with so many seasons it’s surely difficult to include everyone. The original submission contained 15 minifigures, and the official LEGO set reduces that to 13: Violet, Mary, Edith, Tom, Robert, Cora, Mr. Carson, Miss Smith, Mr. Bates, Anna, Thomas, Mrs. Patmore, and Daisy. There’s a good balance between the Crawley family and their staff, and the build itself is able to accommodate this many minifigures throughout the various rooms. The graphic design team did a wonderful job with these minifigs, as so many of them required new prints to match their on-screen depictions.
The ladies of the household all have new dresses with printed gowns. In my opinion, these are the highlights of a wonderful minifigure cast. The dual-molded arms on each of them provides a touch of elegance that makes the minifigures look truly royal.
The alternate faces featured throughout are incredible (often bearing even more likeness to their character’s signature facial expression). Maggie Smith’s Violet minifigure in particular is a highlight, as it contains a brand new wig mold and the first appearance of the gown in aqua.
The men of the household share some torsos, but match their on-screen appearance well.
Mr. Carson is the highlight for me, as his bushy eyebrows and expressions work so well in minifigure form.
The female waitstaff all contain gown elements, and the kitchen staff introduces a new wig element in two different colors. This is one of my favorite parts in the entire set.
Mrs. Patmore’s expressions are perfect, especially considering Daisy’s holding a new mixer.
The design team managed to bring back the Labrador, which is a more than welcome addition to this model!
Finally, each of the gowned minifigures contains a brick-built and printed assembly that allows them to be seated on the bench or in any of the various rooms. We’ve seen this method before (most notably in the Rivendell set), but this is the most extensive usage of it that I’ve seen. Considering that this doubles up on all of the gown prints, it’s a significant undertaking!
The Finished Model
The final model provides a tall but not overly deep display with plenty of room for displaying the wide cast of minifigures on the exterior or within the rooms inside. The set’s designer said that the most difficult choice may be whether to display the exterior or interior, and I’m inclined to agree!
The castle itself is an architectural beauty and looks great at any angle. It works perfectly well as a standalone Highclere Castle build (though four combined would be especially awesome), and I’ve already heard many thoughts about Wayne Manor modifications….
The floors are very easily separable, allowing you to take a closer look at the inside or arrange the minifigures within much more easily. I’ve done this countless times without a single piece of furniture, flower, or fixture being dislodged – it’s quite sturdy!
With this many minifigures in a set, you usually wouldn’t plan on displaying them all inside for fear of it feeling overly cramped. That’s certainly not the case here, where the entire wait staff looks perfectly comfortable in the rooms on the bottom floor.
The upper floor has the same feeling of space, and with the shuffling of a few minifigures and seated gowns you can recreate your favorite scenes pretty easily.
The tree itself is a lovely little side build, and provides some additional color to extend the display even further.
Final Thoughts
While I wasn’t initially the target audience for this set, I started watching Downton Abbey in preparation for this review and I have to admit I’m fairly hooked (I’m only on Season 2, so no spoilers!). It’s evident that a lot of care and intentionality went into this model and ensuring that it faithfully represented the show, which I think is part of what turned me on to it.
As an architectural castle build, I think it absolutely delivers. The model is incredibly sturdy and commands visual attention without requiring much space. The minifigures are beautifully printed and represent their characters well, and the ability to comfortably display them all in various rooms makes the interior display as wonderful as the exterior.
For fans of the show, I think this model will be a big hit. For architecture or castle fans, I think the building easily stands on its own apart from the show. The LEGO Ideas theme has delivered some incredible models in 2026, and this is among the best of them.
LEGO Ideas 21373 Downton Abbey | 4,711 Pieces | Available October 1 to LEGO Insiders, October 4 for all | US $349.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £269.99
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