Britannia Manor

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Britannia Manor is the residence of game designer Richard Garriott. The name comes from the castle of Lord British, ruler of Britannia, the setting of the Ultima computer role playing game series, which he created. Britannia Manor is situated atop a large hill near Austin, Texas.

[edit] History

Before 1995, Britannia Manor was famous for hosting the most elaborate haunted house in the country. Garriott spent a great deal of money biannually around Halloween to pay for makeup, tools, construction materials, special effects, and costumes for his haunted house. The actors and techs were all volunteers, many donating hundreds of hours for the honor of being a part of the show, and a free t-shirt. Only two men were paid to work on Britannia Manor, Greg Dykes and Keith Ewing, from local construction company Custom Creations. They oversaw and organized some of the set construction. Invitations to what Garriott thought of as a giant house party were given away free, with the exception of a few shows where tickets were donated to charity and sold for $100 or more. People waited for as long as a week, camped out in front of Garriott's house, to be first in line to receive the free invitations.

Britannia Manor was a full contact Halloween adventure. The events were designed like a role-playing game. Participants would go through Garriott's mountain property in adventuring parties, gathering clues to solve mysteries and quests, while facing different perils and pitfalls. The actors would touch, grab, and physically as well as verbally interact with the guests, who could not simply wander through like in most haunted houses. They would have to swing, crawl, climb, and row their way out. It was not uncommon for parties to lose members in the course of the quest.

The manor's medieval design reflects Garriott's interest in the era. The house is adorned with various medieval items such as crossbows, swords, and armour. It features traps and a network of secret passages and rooms. A secret room in the basement contains some of Garriott's most treasured artifacts, including dinosaur fossils, a coffin with a human skeleton inside it, and an authentic 16th century vampire hunting kit. The house also features other collections such as hairs from the Glacier snowman, a brick from the Great Wall of China, a Russian spacesuit, and three stained glass windows retrieved from an abandoned church.

The house also has an observatory in the main complex. Although part of the house, it is structurally independent from the rest of the house in order to damp out vibrations, as they ruin long-exposure space photos.

Britannia Manor was designed by designer/architect, Alan Barley, of Barley & Pfeiffer Architects in Austin, Texas. In 1996, Garriott hired a different architect to design another house on a nearby riverfront property. The new structure would be significantly bigger than the original one and has additional features. The design has three different wings which surround a large swimming pool, which faces a cliff. The pool would have a glass boundary, so if one looked up from the foot of the hill, it would seem the water is floating in the sky.

As in the manor, secret passages would link the entire complex. In the design, the passages connect all three wings of the house as well as allow secret access to the swimming pool. The passages would extend down through the hill and under water to a lakeside dock.

Traps were also included in the design. The master bedroom would be on a giant elevating platform below a retractable ceiling. When activated, the ceiling would completely open up and the room would elevate to the top level of the house, essentially allowing the inhabitant to literally sleep under the stars. Some guest rooms are also located on a giant rotating platform. When the guests are asleep, the device could activate so that guests would wake up in a different room than they slept in the previous night.

The status for the new addition is unknown. Garriott put the plans on hold when he left his job at Origin Systems. However, according to a news report and interview with a local Austin, TX PBS affiliate, he plans to re-start it in 2008.

[edit] External links

• 2006 Documentary about Britannia Manor with archive footage and interview with Richard Garriott
• 2005 KRLU Interview with Richard about his House (includes Video of the House)
• Complete description of Britannia Manor Haunted House in 1988
• Complete description of Britannia Manor Haunted House in 1994
• Britannia Manor on Google Satellite Maps