Lol, nooooo! It's owned by English Heritage who preserve a variety of ruins for the nation and prevent them from getting into a further state of disrepair. Most of their sites are then open to the public, which gives folk like me a chance to go take photos like these!
Excellent! It's not a very big place so you might want to combine it with somewhere else also - Woburn Abbey isn't too far away for example but unlike Houghton is in a much better state of repair and isn't free to get in!
ha! nothing is free ever! we went to just London last year, but we want some country flavor this time, Britain is so expensive, but gosh, it's colorful
[link]