Castle Howard: I visited the unveiling of a once in a generation transformation at Yorkshire stately home and ‘subtle opulence’ came to mind

Despite the disappointing cloudy weather, the exterior view of the stately home took my breath away.

The event included the unveiling of its lost Tapestry Drawing Room, which has been restored to its original 18th century glory for the first time since the catastrophic fire in 1940.

We were first introduced to the Grand Staircase, first built in the 1870s; there were a selection of antique sculptures and artefacts collected by the 4th and 5th Earls during their travels displayed alongside a series of plaster casts and busts.

Then we were taken to the first room that was altered as part of the project, Lady Georgina’s Dressing Room. In this room, they installed an 18th century Chinese wallpaper reproduction which emulated much of its history in conjunction with some of the modern day facilities installed two years ago. On the whole, the space looked brighter than it looked when I last visited Castle Howard last year.

The Castle Howard Bedroom also looked much brighter since I last saw it and the gorgeous rouge and gold colour palette gave it an opulent appearance and the entire atmosphere felt cosy and warm. As you walked through the rooms, it felt like you were being transported to the early centuries of Castle Howard.

I’m always blown away by the great detail of the Great Hall with the delicate painting around the 70-foot-high dome, the stunning pillars and marble statues. It not only looks stunning and unique from the outside, but it looks equally distinctive from the inside. This is where the 1940 fire originated, from the fireplace under the dome.

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One of my favourite rooms was the Tapestry Drawing Room; the intricate details of the Four Seasons tapestries brought back to the room that covered the walls and the beautiful green and gold colour palette with the gold labyrinth-style patterns around the fireplace were unbelievable. I didn’t know where to look, everything was distracting. The two words that came to mind when I saw this room in particular were ‘subtle opulence’; the entire room looked luxurious but this was because of the incredible tiny detail in the designs.

The next room on the tour was the Reynold Room and I loved the turquoise wallpaper backdrop with golden-framed paintings by the 18th century portraitist Sir Joshua Reynolds. A China cabinet was also introduced to the room which added an extra rich layer to the room.

The Long Gallery was also one of my favourite rooms; the newly designed walls and curtains brought more grandeur to the space as well as the re-organisation of the paintings and of course the spectacular golden chandelier that looked like it was dripping in jewels. It created a fantastic centre piece for the room.

Each painting has its own story and if these walls could talk, there would be many secrets pouring out of the building. I really enjoyed the tour; it merged 300 years of history with modern day design and facilities, which illustrated the way 11 generations of the Howard family maintained and preserved their home over the years.