A little piece of English heritage

Instead, he turned off at Boroughbridge because an estate agent sent him a brochure for a property that had just arrived on the market. It was a stately pile which couldn't fail to turn the head of an American determined to invest in the stones and timbers and blue-blooded dramas of history.

He'd already looked at about 80 palaces, castles and country houses in England and Ireland. What caused him to detour this time was the gothic revival centrepiece of the Allerton Park estate in North Yorkshire whose origins go back to the Domesday Book.

The condition of the former ancestral home of William Marmaduke Stourton, the 25th Baron Mowbray, 26th Baron Segrave and 22nd Baron Stourton, did not match such pedigree. Roofs leaked, there was dry rot and woodworm, peeling wallpaper, broken floorboards and dangerous wiring. Allerton Castle was living up to Castle Dismal, its nickname when No 6 Group of the Royal Canadian Air Force used it as a wartime headquarters.

But this other visitor from North America saw potential on a Monday morning in 1983. Dr Rolph recalls: "I arrived at the agent's office at nine o'clock, visited the castle an hour later and at 2pm that day I'd bought it. We drew up a contract very quickly because I was worried about that word you have – gazumping. I also had to provide references. The Stourton family was a bit concerned because here was I, to them an unknown American, and at the time the Moonies were buying property in Britain…"

His plan was to restore the castle to the point where it represented an idealized version of mid-19th century aristocratic life in gothic surroundings. It was a tall order because until then Rolph hadn't conserved anything older than a house in Florida dating from 1926. European heritage is in his blood. His parents were Scandinavian, although he was born in Hawaii. His father was a captain in the US Navy "and I grew up wherever he was sent". Rolph studied business at Harvard and became a vice president of the Tandy Corporation, which in the early 1960s was among the first to see the future in consumer electronics. He made serious money, which, together with investments, enabled him to retire from the corporate rat-race in his late 30s.

"The boss of Tandy had had a couple of heart attacks and I didn't want the same happening to me." Rolph became a visiting professor at various universities, lecturing on business policy, but his personal dream lay in the past.

Having become owner of one of the most grandiose seats of the nobility he established a charity – supported by the Stourton family – called the Gerald Arthur Rolph Foundation for Historic Preservation and Education. Its aim is to revive and maintain the Grade I mansion built between 1848-54.

Restoration was almost complete when a chimney fire on the night of January 22, 2005, spread into the attic and roof and became an inferno which destroyed almost a third of the castle. Among its victims was the state bedchamber and dressing room, Venetian bedchamber and dressing room, the dining room and the entire service wing.

Precious artefacts and paintings were lost, molten lead poured from collapsing roofs onto hand-made carpets, and there was severe damage to the library, conservatory and parts of the Great Hall.

Being summoned from his quarters elsewhere in the castle to witness flames consuming much of his passion would possibly have put paid to a lesser man in his 70s. But Rolph is driven and he summoned the energy and financial resources to start again.

Five years on, most of Allerton Castle has been rebuilt, redecorated and refurnished, with considerable help from China and Rolph's eye for suitable antiques, bought at auctions in places as diverse as Leyburn and Miami. The task has been awesome, the cost mind-boggling. He declines to reveal how much he paid for the castle, but millions was spent on its first transformation and he admits to another 5.5m since the fire.

"Not a penny of public money has gone into the restoration. We prefer not to get involved with national institutions. The insurance was a partial help but you never have enough insurance." What wasn't covered by that has been borne by private funding, borrowings, and income from the foundation's activities.

The castle has about 6,000 visitors a year and is hired for functions that include weddings and corporate events.

Rolph seems unfazed by all the traumas and mounting bills – a slim, erect figure of 77 in a dark striped suit and what could be mistaken for a baronial tie, and he's even managed to keep most of his gingery hair.

How come he hasn't been overwhelmed?

"After the fire I made a commitment that I would restore the castle and bring it back. My business background helped. In that world you expect the unexpected and use the experience as a basis to go forward. The shock of what happened didn't hit me until I saw a film of the damage and what was required to put things right. I've been fortunate in that respect. Some exceptional people have been involved."

Among them he includes Chinese craftsmen who produced work for the castle at a price up to 75 per cent cheaper than that charged by their English counterparts. Oak wood panels were carved in Hangzhou and marble fireplaces, sculpted near Beijing, replaced those in white limestone which had been weakened by falling beams and blazing debris.

Photographs alone couldn't have have conveyed the scale of their task. So nine tons of the original stone were crated and sent to China to give carvers there a sense of the grand salons they were creating their work for.

"The challenge for them," said Dr Rolph, "was whether they could be as good as the English carvers of 1850. The answer was yes, and maybe even a bit better. The standard there is incredibly high. In China every craftsman wants to work on their ancient buildings. That is a source of great pride and we're delighted their skills have now been translated for Yorkshire."

He went abroad for many other fixtures and objets d'art to fill the gaps left by original works consumed by the fire. In his other home at Fort Lauderdale on the Florida coast, Rolph found a period drawing room suite complete with footstools and also a sink he felt was just right for one of the castle's bathrooms.

Maybe a purist would quibble over certain additions but in such a vast undertaking some pragmatism is inevitable.

The English have contributed too, from steelwork to re-roofing, plastering and joinery. The York wood carver Julia Meredith has done work there, stained glass windows were reproduced by Paul Lucker near Huddersfield and a trompe l'oeil ceiling in the music room was painted by students from Gateshead College.

By this summer Rolf hopes finally to have fulfilled his promise to rescue for a second time the only surviving gothic revival country seat in England, adding a few personal touches he couldn't resist.

The 19th-century Barons Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton wouldn't have a clue what to make of Rolf's Automatic Music Machine Collection that includes a six-selection phonograph, forerunner of the juke box.

That though is background music to the bigger project. "I've long been interested in the environment and preserving heritage and wanted to tackle something older than almost anything in America. There's tremendous satisfaction in bringing back beauty and we stood by that aim even when the fire undid much of what we'd already achieved.

"Another challenge was in seeking to get it done at a reasonable price. Despite everything, we're within an established budget. The Foundation's objectives won't die with me and it's never been intended to put this building into a glass case. It's here for people to visit and enjoy and to have a glimpse of what country house living used to be. This place was built to impress and we hope it still does."

In the library scores of books have replaced those destroyed by flames or water saturation. Among the new titles is a particularly apt one titled Great Disasters.

On the one which befell him Dr Rolf is adamant. "No, I've never regretted buying the castle. I admit it's total insanity, but why not?"

Tours of Allerton Castle resume at Easter. 01423 330927 or visit www.allertoncastle.co.uk