Emma Woodhouse and her father, Mr. Woodhouse, lived in a large home named Highbury. The house is not described in much detail in the book; however, Mrs. Elton, a secondary character, describes it when she first visits the home:
"The grounds of Hartfield were small, but neat and pretty; and the house was modern and well built. Mrs Elton seemed most favourably impressed by the size of the room, the entrance, and all she could see or imagine...So extremely like Maple Grove! And it is not merely the house - the grounds, I assure you, as far as I could observe, are strikingly like. The laurels at Maple Grove are in the same profusion as here, and stand very much in the same way - just across the lawn; and I had a glimpse of a fine large tree, with a bench round it, which put me so exactly in mind! My brother and sister will be enchanted with this place. People who have extensive grounds themselves are always pleased with any thing in the same style."
In movie adaptations, Hartfield is generally represented with houses similar to the one pictured below.
Another of the main characters, Mr. Knightley, lives in same County of Surrey; however, his home is named Donwell Abbey. The "abbey" represents both the house and Mr. Knightley's character. An abbey is a place of worship and community aid; Mr. Knightley represents these aspects in his kind and generous nature.
Donwell Abbey was a large estate. Mr. Knightley gained the property through hereditary rights as the oldest son. The home was described by Emma when she approached the estate on a strawberry-picking outing.
"as she viewed the respectable size and style of the building, its suitable, becoming characteristic situation, low and sheltered - its ample gardens stretching down to the meadows washed by a stream, of which the Abbey, with its old neglect of prospect, had scarcely a sight...It was a sweet view - sweet to the eye and the mind. English verdure, English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, without being oppressive."
The house was represented as this in the BBC version of Emma in 2009:
Emma's former governess, Miss Taylor, now Mrs. Weston, lived with her new husband, Mr. Weston, at a smaller estate named Randalls. No true description of Randall's is given; however, the house was not nearly as large as Hartfield or Donwell Abbey. It was located one half of a mile from Hartfield to the East; Emma visited the Westons often everyday. Randall's was large enough for a grand Christmas dinner party which occured in the novel. It is often depicted such as this:
Box Hill is another site the characters of Emma travel to in the story. Box Hill is an actual place located in the County of Surrey in England. The Woodhouses travelled seven miles to reach the beautiful look out, along with Mr. Knightley, Mr. and Mrs. Elton, Miss Bates and her mother, Jane Fairfax, Frank Churchill, and Mr. Weston. At Box Hill, Emma and Frank Churchill outrageously flirt in front of the entire party, embarrassing Mr. Knightley and enraging Jane Fairfax. After the commotion, Emma describes the scenery:
"Emma had never been to Box Hill ... she wished to see what everybody found so much worth seeing...But the outing is not a success, being marred from the start by 'a languor, a want of spirits, a want of union, which could not be got over.... even Emma grew tired at last of flattery and merriment, and wished herself rather walking quietly about with any of the others, or sitting almost alone, and quite unattended to, in tranquil observation of the beautiful views beneath her."
The actual site of Box Hill currently looks like this:
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