Castle Howard: Yorkshire stately home will reopen following major renovation including Tapestry Drawing Room which was restored for first time since devastating fire 84 years ago

Castle Howard’s 21st Century Renaissance will open to the public on April 25, 2025, and there will also be an opportunity to observe the renovated Long Gallery, Grand Staircase and a complete rehang and redisplay of Castle Howard’s collection of paintings, sculptures and tapestries.

The Tapestry Drawing Room has been restored to its original 18th century splendour and the reopening will take place ahead of the 300th anniversary of Sir John Vanbrugh’s death in 2026.

Castle Howard is recognised by millions across the world where Brideshead Revisited and Bridgerton were filmed.

With 1,000 acres of parkland filled with statues, temples, lakes and fountains, it is one of the most historically significant houses in Europe.

Castle Howard has been the residence for nine generations of the Howard family for more than 300 years, with each contributing to its creation, evolution, and preservation.

A devastating fire in 1940 destroyed the iconic dome and more than 20 rooms in the house, whilst it was being used as a girls’ school during the Second World War.

George Howard made the decision to keep the house and estate in family ownership when he returned from war, and he embarked on the restoration of the house, which in 1952 opened to the public. He restored the dome in 1962, and the filming of Brideshead Revisited 20 years later enabled the reconstruction of the Garden Hall and New Library.

The restoration work is being continued by the present generation of custodians, Nicholas and Victoria Howard, with work led by architect Francis Terry and designers Remy Renzullo and Alec Cobbe.

The four tapestries were woven for the drawing room in 1706 by John Vanderbank and illustrate ‘The Four Seasons’ in scenes taken from the work of David Teniers. It was the first room of the State Apartments, a suite of richly decorated, interconnected rooms reserved for a visiting monarch or head of state.

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The Grand Staircase was built in the 1870s and following the re-hang, visitors will promptly be introduced to the Grand Tour history of the house, with antique sculptures and artefacts collected by the 4th and 5th Earls on their travels, displayed alongside a series of newly acquired plaster casts and busts.

The Long Gallery will contain Italian and Grand Tour paintings, including the noted Pannini capriccios of Rome commissioned by the 4th Earl, counterbalanced with 18th century views of Castle Howard. There will also be portraits of past generations of the Howard family, including works by Kneller, Lely and Hoppner, which will be displayed throughout the gallery.

Nicholas and Victoria Howard said in a joint statement: “Every one of the nine generations who have lived in Castle Howard has enjoyed dancing with its particular aesthetic. We are no exception.

“From its inception 325 years ago, it has been a vivacious house, demanding lively evolution. During all that time it has managed to achieve the duality of being both a family home and a place at which to marvel.

“The re-creation of the Tapestry Drawing Room is at the centre of our contemporary evolution. The evisceration of more than 20 rooms in the 1940 fire had the silver lining of once more allowing us to step into the creative process here.

“Spreading out from the Tapestry Drawing Room, we have re-purposed, re-hung, and re-decorated, re-vivifying the house that has refused to die.”

Art historian and former secretary and CEO of the Royal Academy of Arts, Sir Charles Saumarez Smith, said: “Castle Howard has always evolved, with each generation of the Howard family adding a new layer to its history. I have been extraordinarily impressed by the determination with which Nicholas and Victoria Howard are not only restoring the house, bringing its services up-to-date and making the house fit-for-purpose, but also trying to make good some of the damage of the disastrous 1940 fire.”

Historian and former chief executive of English Heritage, Simon Thurley, said: “Magical, romantic, monumental - Castle Howard can lay claim to many superlatives, but every few generations a wave of the wand of taste has renewed and revived its charms.

“If anyone doubted the ability of this greatest of houses to be reborn for a new generation, they should come and admire the sensitive but confident way the state rooms have been brought back to life. It is a remarkable achievement, worthy of the ambitions of Castle Howard’s first builder and designers some 350 years ago.”