Another Architectural masterpiece that has provided me with endless inspiration is, Castle Howard.
Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England. It is a private residence, and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years.
Its grandeur, its stately presence in its rural setting and its incredible architectural detail, have captured my imagination for many years. Not only is the home itself a masterpiece, but so to are the numerous garden follies, positioned over its magnificent landscaped acreage.
Castle Howard is not a true castle, but is a term used for this English country house, as it was erected on the site of a former military castle.
The building of Castle Howard began in 1699 and took over 100 years to complete to a design by Sir John Vandbrugh for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle . The house is surrounded by a large estate which, once covered over 13,000 acres and included five individual villages and its own railway station.
It is familiar to television and film audiences as the fictional "Brideshead", both in Granada Television's 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and a two-hour 2008 remake for cinema. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England group of heritage houses.
