Jan Hunter talks to Simon Howard about his new life outside one of the most famous stately homes in the country

CASTLE HOWARD is one of the finest houses in northern England, attracting visitors from all over the world and famous as the setting for TV’s Brideshead Revisited.

It is also a thriving rural estate and its success is mainly due to Simon Howard, who took it on from his father in 1983. However, in June 2016, as the result of a family dispute, he, his wife Rebecca, and twins Merlin and Octavia, left his childhood home and moved to Welham Hall near Malton, where he is now overseeing the renovation of this beautiful country house.

“Leaving CH was an upheaval in all our lives,” he says. “I found Welham Hall but wasn’t sure whether my wife would like it, but she saw the potential, and we have reorganised the kitchen, built a conservatory and we are now converting the stables into guest bedrooms with the help of a lot of local people.

“We love the seclusion here and, of course, the lake, and it is near the children’s school so we can see them more often and be involved in the activities there.”

It was a big operation leaving the vastness of Castle Howard for a smaller property, as for 40 years Mr Howard, a keen collector of art, had accumulated what he calls “a lot of stuff”, a great deal of which is now filling the new house although some is still in storage.

He continues to be an art consultant for Sothebys, where he finds business for the company, and he is president of the Police Treatment Centre charity, which is based in Harrogate.

“Any police officer who has been injured in the course of duty can use this facility for their recovery,” he says. “It has swimming pools, cycling rooms and physiotherapy. It means they have less time off duty, and they can recover and get back to work more quickly.”

The year before he left Castle Howard, Mr Howard himself suffered with ill health, as cancer was found in his throat. It was taken out and he had intense radiotherapy over a period of seven weeks.

“When I was told it was cancer, it didn’t bother me too much,” he says. ”They couldn’t find it anywhere else and I do have confidence and faith in science and in the NHS.

“However, after the operation I saw a consultant once every three months, which was then extended to once every six months and the last time I saw him he told me he had a gift for me, and it was that he did not want to see me for another nine months.”

He says he doesn’t miss life in the 300-year-old Castle Howard as he was approaching his 60th birthday and so considering retirement.

“But living there was idyllic,” he says. “I had wonderful parents and so much space to play, and we had picnics on the lawns.

“However I left to go to prep school when I was six and then on to Eton. I didn’t enjoy school. I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.”

He said that his father, George Howard, felt it a privilege to have inherited such a beautiful house – the site had been in the family since 1566 and work on the home started in 1699. Because of that privilege, he worked hard to give something back to society, belonging to many groups and associations, and chairing the BBC for three years, and he worked hard to give the public greater access to it. This included turning it into the fictional Brideshead for the 1981 TV programme.

Simon, who had considered taking up architecture or photography but chose estate management as none of his brothers wanted to take on the family inheritance, was asked by his father to help supervise the filming.

“It was great fun,” he says, “and very interesting. I also became involved in the running of the estate and was made managing director in 1983. I loved it. You never knew each day what you might face.

“One day you would be discussing leaks in the property with plumbers and the next you would be having meetings with art historians.

“It was a huge learning curve for me at the beginning. It was all about people management, as we had 250 staff to keep on side. We wanted to keep our heads above water, but didn’t want to turn the house into Disneyland.”

Castle Howard was the first big house to install ground source heating, by sinking huge coils into the lake which converted the temperature of the water into energy which powers the house’s heating systems and warms its water.

Mr Howard oversaw the renovation of all the waterways and the restoration of the lake, which his grandmother, Rosalind, had informalised.

“My grandmother was teetotal and it is rumoured she poured all the wine into the lake.” he says. “I’m not sure I believe she personally did that – it was just the bad wine that was poured away!”

He was involved in the landscaping of the gardens, and is especially proud of the rose garden which was his father’s idea to create in memory of his mother.

He continued the musical nights that his father began, and began the very special and successful Christmas openings where all the family and staff were involved in the decoration.

And then there were constant major restorations of the stonework, the roofs and the plumbing. It took several years alone to rewire the whole house.

After escaping such huge pressures, he is enjoying life at a slightly smaller scale.

“Now I can really appreciate the simple things,” he says. “I was so proud to be the youngest High Sherriff in North Yorkshire in 1995, and the birth of my twins made me so very happy. Now I have peace and quiet to enjoy the things I do and the beauty and wildlife around me.”