The residence – complete with lavish rooms, green lawns and bodies of water – is where most of the film takes place and is where the relationship and tensions between Caton, his family, and his friend Oliver Quick (played by Barry Keoghan) play out.
In real life, the 127-room limestone building is called “Drayton House” and can be found in Northamptonshire, England. The property's owner, Charles Stopford Sackville, told British tabloid newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, that he did not find the interest amount on his property “pleasant” and that security is now patrolling the property after dozens of trespassing incidents. “How would you feel if people were taking pictures outside your house?”
A representative for Stopford Sackville declined to comment when contacted by The Washington Post on Monday.
A TikTok tutorial on how to access the 700-year-old property – which has been viewed more than 3 million times – likely fueled the mass pilgrimage. Many followers tagged their friends in the comments and wrote messages like: “We need to go here.” There were a slew of videos on TikTok as of Monday with many people documenting their own trips to the state. Some took their dogs, others stopped in a nearby village for lunch along the way.
Ryan Williams, a public relations and marketing consultant who lives in the area, posted the video. “If you want to visit Saltburn House in Northamptonshire, follow me,” she says, directing people to the Snooty Fox pub, cottages and horses. In the footage, Williams points out that the public trail runs through the property, but he said in an email to The Washington Post on Monday that there is “absolutely no reason for people to deviate” from the trail and onto private property.
Williams, 47, said she “had no idea” when she shared the video that her TikTok would generate so much attention. “I don't have a lot of followers on TikTok, so I didn't think it would go viral,” she said. “When hundreds of people started sharing and commenting on my video, it added rocket fuel to my posts.”
Williams said the fact that the film was filmed at Drayton House was already public before she shared her video in January. It was identified by Tatler magazine in August.
In her email, she urged those planning to visit Drayton House to “be good country citizens” and respect their surroundings.
The county of Northamptonshire is often overlooked Despite its beauty, Williams said, tourists and Britons liked it, explaining that she hoped her videos would draw attention to the general area. “It's great to see such a hidden corner of beautiful Northamptonshire in a big film like Saltburn,” she said.
Records of Drayton House date back to 1328, according to Historic England, a government body that protects historic buildings, monuments and parks. The house is not open to the public, and the owner, Stopford Sackville, told The Mail he was paid to let producers use the house for filming.
The film's writer and director, Emerald Fennell, told House and Garden magazine in January that the property had never been seen on the big screen before. “That's why the house was so important,” Fennell said of Drayton House. “It has to be something that has never been used before. This has never even been photographed, let alone on film.”
In a scene described by “Saltburn” viewers as “iconic,” Oliver Quick's character danced naked around the palace to the tune of “Murder on the Dancefloor” by British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
The spectacle returned the 2001 hit to the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, more than 20 years after its initial release. This inspired many to travel home and do their own dance outside the gates – although most appear to have kept their clothes on.
