Castle Howard at Christmas

We took Bev and Allen to Castle Howard, the backdrop for Brideshead Revisited (the '80 movie and the recent remake staring Emma Thompson). It's amazing to think that such a house is still a home! Many of the manor houses nearby are closed for the holidays, but Castle Howard remains open to visitors (only one wing of the house is ever open) and decorated top to bottom for the holidays.

As per Bill and my modus operandi, we arrived about 20 minutes before the house was opened for the day, which gave us some time to walk around the outside a bit.  

Castle Howard's front entrance

Guard owl

Castle Howard's back yard

Once inside, we warmed up by the fire and spent quite a while walking through the beautiful house. 

Warming up by the fire

More warming up

The house had so many Christmas trees, I lost count! Here is one of the first trees we came upon - sorry the photo is a bit blurry, I had to take it quickly before someone walked in front of me! 

Blurry but sweet photo of Bill and his Mom

All of the rooms were decorated for Christmas, some more than others. One of the three dining rooms (yes, three - and this was only one [no longer used by the family] wing of the house!) was especially beautiful.

Fancy-schmancy Christmas dinner table

Even statuary in the hallways were decorated with Christmas wreaths and garland. Everywhere you looked, there was amazing art, architecture, and gorgeous decorations. 

Festive bust

Festive statue

As I've stated, Castle Howard had a Christmas tree in almost every room. When they didn't have a Christmas tree, they had a Christmas branch - apparently a holiday tradition in England. It seems the branches they have are family heirlooms that are brought out each year and decorated. My guess is that they are downed branches from the family estate that have been stored year after year just for this purpose.  

One of the many, many Castle Howard Christmas trees

Decorated Christmas branch 

It was really special seeing the house decorated for Christmas, but we were also surprised to see several of the family members while we toured the house. As we walked through a few of the rooms, we spotted the two family dogs doing their morning chores by delivering firewood with either a family member or a member of staff. The dogs were mostly obedient, but the black one was visiting the "open" wing of the house for the first time, so s/he was a little over-exited to see so many people!   

Family Howard's dogs

And in one of the last rooms on the visitors' route, there was a wonderful pianist playing Christmas music. As we were listening a woman about my age and a ten-year old boy came running in, stocking feet and all, and stood behind the piano to listen. A docent I was speaking with told me it was the lady of the house (Lady Howard!) who used to play in a concert band with the pianist, and the ten-year old heir to Castle Howard. They looked so normal and down-to-earth, it's hard to fathom the fact that they own and manage such a massive and beautiful estate! 

Howard Family members and pianist family friend