Work started on the ruin in 1853, and it came to very little — patching walls rather than rebuilding a house. The revolution of 1848 had just abolished serfdom in Hungary, which meant the estate could no longer call on unpaid labour from the village below and had to hire and pay for every hand. At the same time, ruins had become fashionable: romantic Europe liked them, painted them and, if rich enough, moved into them. Smolenice had to wait another sixty years for somebody rich enough.Práce na zrúcanine sa začali roku 1853 a veľmi ďaleko sa nedostali — išlo skôr o vyspravovanie múrov než o obnovu sídla. Revolúcia roku 1848 práve zrušila poddanstvo, takže panstvo už nemohlo siahnuť po neplatenej robote dediny pod hradom a každú ruku muselo najať a zaplatiť. Zároveň prišli zrúcaniny do módy: romantická Európa ich obdivovala, maľovala a — ak na to mala — sa do nich sťahovala. Smolenice si na niekoho dosť bohatého museli počkať ešte šesťdesiat rokov.
