Flamboyant Canadian billionaire and empty nester Ann Kaplan Mulholland and her husband, renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Mulholland embarked on a colossal adventure two years ago. They relocated to England and bought a new home, the thousand-year-old Lympne castle in Kent, a wee fixer upper: 27K square feet, 27 buildings, and 139 acres. And as Mulholland discovered, it came with a thousand years of neglect. Built in the 1080s for the Archdeacons of Canterbury, it has been transformed into a spectacular hotel, with all the amenities, and is has become the gathering place for the previously wary villagers. All in, to date, Mulholland’s invested 51,000,000 Pounds Sterling or 95,007,645 CD. dollars. Once you start watching you won’t be able to stop, because The Queen’s energy is irresistible. What She Said’ Anne Brodie spoke with Mulholland in Toronto about the eight-part doc series Queen of the Castle, launching March 26 on CTV Life, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, the 27th on Crave.
Anne Brodie – Congratulations on your series, The Queen of the Castle. Oh, my word. I am so hooked. It’s nutty. Your mom was English, my mom was English, and I miss her accent. And I wonder if relocating to England is kind of a reconnection for you.
Anne Kaplan Mulholland – It is, it’s like bringing my mom home because we grew up with Yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes. And this was a very normal, although it’s more extreme in the south of England and not what I grew up with, like the bangers and mash and the Scotch eggs and things. I just don’t get it. I don’t get it.
AB – Now in bad economic times, it might be considered kind of rough to see a show of money, that was my initial thought. But I couldn’t resist your energy and positivity. I just fell for you, and I knew I could learn from you.
AKM – Oh, that’s interesting. So, what was your thought when you were thinking when you heard Queen of the Castle? This couple, the kids move out, and they pack everything in, and they move to England and buy a castle when, and we could have just done nothing but retire and or do lie on the beach. So, you’re thinking that it was going to be a little bit gauche.
AB – A little yes.
AKM – Well, it’s, I mean, we only bought one castle. It’s not like we bought three.
AB – Hahaha! That’s true. Let’s talk numbers. 27,000 square feet, 27 buildings, 139 acres. Have you seen it all?
AKM – I have not seen it all. And what’s interesting is that when we first bought the castle, I was the one negotiating the deal and all that. And about two or three months later, my husband and I were at the castle, and we had a driver take us around, and we went down this road, and he says, Oh, that’s nice. And I said, well, this is our land. He thought we only had three acres! He had no idea that we had this massive acreage. It’s massive. And, no, I have not been around it. I have not been through the whole castle. I have not been around the property.
AB – Wow, that’s going to be a lifetime of amusement for you. Then it is work. And I know you like work.
AKM – I’ve worked. I grew up with a work ethic that you just roll up your sleeves and you get it done. And I’ve brought my kids up the same way; there’s nothing that will get in your way if you can work hard. So, I roll my sleeves up and I go in there, and just happen to do it in a gown. And the gown is my sense of humor, so you can wear whatever you want.
AB – You wear these glittering outfits, sometimes eccentric outfits, and the jewelry and the hair, and today a tiara with your mud boots and you’re outside in the mud. And I was wondering if that is costuming for the show or is this you?
AKM – It is me. I’ve always been very, very over the top. I felt like you could wear what you want, but I don’t mind mixing something like this tiara, its from Amazon. It isn’t bling. This is just fun. And a lot of the clothes I have made, it’s not as if it’s going shopping in Balmain all the time or Louis Vuitton, and that doesn’t mean that it’s not, it doesn’t cost anything. I’ve put on garbage bags and put a cinch to my waist and worn a it for a dress. So, it’s not what you’re wearing, it’s what you make of what you’re wearing.
AB – That’s wonderful. When you realised the extent of the neglect of Lympne Castle, and you made a remark that it’s showed 1000 years of neglect. I know you’re a strong person, but that’s big. What gave you the courage?
AKM – When we bought the castle it was a very, very quick decision. We had decided just to rent in England, and I didn’t think it was a great investment, and to buy an apartment in England. And then I found this castle for sale, and we put an offer in. And when you put an offer in on a castle, you think, oh, there’s a dream thing. You’re like the princess in a castle, and then you end up going, oh, I just bought a job. And what choice do we have but to continue on and do what we need to do? I didn’t realise the extent of how hard that would be that was very, very difficult, and it’s ongoing. There’s no end.
AB – That’s any house, it’s no end of upkeep and repair. But you know, again, 27,000, square feet, my hat is off to you. I admire the heck out of you. You show great skill in dealing with the trades people. And sometimes they grumble. And regarding your optional vegan menu, the kitchen staff grumbles but do it. What if someone who’s visiting your castle or staying in the hotel and they’re a handful? Do you help out in situations?
AKM – Oh, I go in and I do the dishes. I do everything around the castle, helping out. And I go into the kitchen to talk about the vegan menu. I went into the restaurant because I do not like English food. And sorry, Britain, I do not like English food. I am a gluten free vegan, so I went into the castle in the bar. What we serve in the bar are things like bangers and mash, Scotch Eggs, and lasagna and, oh my gosh, it’s so bad. I went in up to some couple that were eating there, and I said I wouldn’t eat here. And I said, in fact, we’re going to hand a defibrillator to everyone who comes in here and eats because it’s bread, it’s butter, it’s pasta, it’s cheese, it’s all these things that I would not go near. So, it’s a sense of humor in a way, but in a way, I’m going “don’t eat that food”. But that is what the English like. But anyway, the manager grabbed me and pulled me away and said, you cannot talk to the customers like that. And I’m like, why? Why? Why can’t I?
AB – The olive tree orchard you brought in from Spain really intrigued me. Are they in the right zone?
AKM – Yes, they are. Oh, before we got the koi fish, and before we got the olive trees, it was making sure that the climate was correct. We had someone that came in and taught the gardeners about maintaining those olive trees. They were dropped into the planters so the plastic was taken off, then they dropped into the planters above ground. Now those planters have holes in them for drainage, and so that the water that comes down drains out into the ground, so they’re not sitting in pools of water, which would not be good for them. The climate is really good for those types of olive trees, and to find five olive trees that are the same size was a challenge, but they’re beautiful. I love a challenge that you can find a solution for once you know that you’re not going to get where you want. You decide, how do I best manage this? And how do I move on? And I don’t want a challenge that is unnecessary. So, if somebody is ripping me off or doing something mean it’s just, I’ll walk away. Not those kinds of challenges, but a challenge of how to create something. The environment, in the case of a castle and the farmland and the sheep running around and everything that is there, it’s just a dream.
AB – Will you write a book of your experiences with the lessons you’ve learned? I think there’s much to be learned from you.
AKM – Oh, you’re that’s very kind. I did write a book called How to Be Successful in Spite of Yourself. It started out to be called How to Be Successful in Spite of Him, and then I crossed out Him. The book talks about getting out of your own way and doing things that align you with people that you want to be around, and being everything that you want to be. And its about living your values and living a happy life, because sometimes life gets in the way. And just live every moment. My husband and I are very, very aware of that. We’ve already gone through our careers, 25 years each, our kids have grown up. And we’re aware that there’s a limit to how long we’ll be on this planet. So, we’re doing everything we can to just live our dream, not someone else’s dream, not Barbie’s dream, not Ken’s dream. We’re living our dream. And we do. We embrace people that want to share the happiness with us.
AB – It’s, it’s, it’s really a lovely headspace to be in. With all the people coming in, you get to meet a lot of them, and that must be a joy.
AKM – When we first opened up, the new manager suggested we have a hog roast, which is another gross thing, like a 300-pound hog. Its people lining up in England, they line up for everything. And then we wait for this hog and this cabbage thing they put on in a bun, and there’s a lineup waiting for this horrible food that takes all night. No, it was just awful. They had the hog and the hog’s head in the fridge. And I took all my food out of the fridge and put it somewhere else. But when we did, I had the first hog roast, I insisted that the staff wear medieval outfits. So, when you come to the castle, all the staff are dressed like knights, and long gowns, and things are in the theme all through the castle. So, we had this medieval times hog roast, and there was a lineup, a thousand or more people and they came in and they hugged me, and I started crying during the very first event, almost two years ago. They said, thank you, because the castle had never been opened to the public, and I didn’t know that. I had no idea the castle had never been open to the public.
AB – You were initially concerned about negative reaction from the locals, and some people were saying, oh, the traffic, the noise, but it turned around, didn’t it?
AKM – In a sense, you know, I don’t know that, Anne, I don’t know that I really thought about the local community, or was aware how the communities work in England, they’re very close knit. Families have lived in each of the villages for centuries, so that there’s very not much differentiation in the last names. And it’s a very white community, if I can say the word white. I don’t think about it because I grew up in an English family and with a mother that was English, and the father that raised me was Scottish. My sisters were all blondes, and so I never thought about how I look different until I got down there, and then, you know, it was just I realized that I was like, if you bought a dozen eggs and they were white eggs and you had one brown one, you go, Hey, What’s this doing here? That’s how I felt when I got there, but nobody treated me like that. They just opened up, embraced, but I realised I kind of stand out in the community. They come over and play Scrabble, we sit and have coffee together and games, and we put games in the castle, games in the restaurant, and it’s a real community. And I go to church with them. I attend the church every Sunday and have coffee after and it’s really heartwarming. It’s amazing to be embraced by a beautiful, beautiful community, and it’s only 1400 people. It’s incredible. This is the best experience.
AB – I hope you continue with the series, because I’d like to see what happens over the years.
AKM – That’s the plan. And you – how did you find the show when you were watching it?
AB – Oh, immediately I was taken in. I was hooked. The production values are top notch. The adventures that you have and the lessons that you learn and your interactions with people, all are learning experiences for me, like I’m not forthright enough, and I just felt the charm of it. I just dove right in.
AKM – Do you know I’ve not seen the show? I haven’t seen it. If I watch that show, I’m going to go, oh, oh, I don’t like my hair, or, oh, my goodness, no. So, I’m so worried.
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