Below: CastleHoward

Left, top: one ofthe house’s

many corridorsLeft, bottom:

the diningroom

MM88 25/05/1025/05/10 MM99www.ey.com/uk/careers www.ey.com/uk/careers

Stately homes are a very British tra-dition. Wherever you go in thecountry, you’re bound to be within

a stone’s throw of at least a couple ofgrand houses or castles, acting as mon-uments to the complicated history ofthis green and pleasant land.

Indeed, the journalist Sir SimonJenkins wrote in a 2003 work entitledEngland’s Thousand Best Houses that“through them we hear the echo of ourcollective selves – and remember whowe are”.

But the future of such grand state-ly homes has not always been so secure.When reading Evelyn Waugh’sBrideshead Revisited (which ratherpredictably provided the inspiration forthis piece), it is evident that the story isalmost one long tribute to a particularstately home and the lifestyle it has cre-ated. Upon Charles Ryder’s return tothe house during the Second WorldWar, he laments the advent of an egali-tarian and featureless world, with noplace for houses like Brideshead. Therewas a real fear that in post-war Britainsuch houses could be left to decay.

Still, stately homes have survived,despite the odds. However, to do this,their focus has had to change. Nolonger can they expect merely to existas lavish ornaments to a decadentlifestyle. To own a stately home is tobelong to an exclusive club; but it isalso to enter a unique sector of busi-ness, where there is an accepted modelfor success, just like any other con-

sumer driven activity. As Waugh himself was forced to

add in a 1959 introduction,“Brideshead today would be open totrippers, its treasures rearranged byexpert hands and the fabric bettermaintained than it was by LordMarchmain”.

The Hon. Simon Howard, the cur-rent owner of Castle Howard, verymuch agrees that running a statelyhome should nowadays be treated likerunning a business, and that it wouldbe difficult to attract visitors otherwise.“Castle Howard has been open to thepublic ever since it was built, but com-mercially since 1932, and certainly wewouldn’t be able to continue unless wedid so. We do consciously think abouthow to promote the house – we listen towhat people say about why they comehere. I think people visit because it’s animportant house architecturally and it’san attractive place to visit. It’s moreabout experiencing the house itselfthan experiencing the history.”

But Charles Berkeley, the directorof Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire,takes a different view. “I think the mainreason people visit the castle is becauseit is an authentic Norman castle built inthe 12th century. It has a dungeon anda keep, and a lot of the features haven’tchanged over the years. History plays amajor part.”

This is understandable, given thatBerkeley Castle was the location for themurder of King Edward II in 1327 and

Delusions of grandeurWhat place do historic houses have in the modern world? Liv Evans finds thatstately homes have an enduring appeal and are still relevant in today’s society.

where barons gathered before signingthe Magna Carta in 1215. “It’s uniquebecause it’s been lived in by the samefamily since Anglo-Saxon times.There’s always been a Berkeley livingthere uninterrupted for over 900years.” Indeed, after The Tower ofLondon and Windsor, it is the oldestcontinuously-occupied castle inEngland, and the oldest outright to becontinually owned and occupied by thesame family.

But despite the differencesbetween the buildings, the emphasis ontreating them as businesses is stillessential. “The castle has been opennow for just over 50 years, and myfather was told by his father that thiswas the only way for the family to stayliving here. We very much say it’s abusiness; we have to have commercialideas both for the castle and the estateto bring in money. We’ve had to bemore commercial and tougher. Youhave to think of major things that willsuit that particular place. I think hav-ing major events in the grounds andcastle in the future will be the only wayto survive.”

Given that the focus of statelyhomes is very much on making moneyin order to stay open, do the ownersconsciously promote themselvesthrough being used in TV dramas andfilms? In today’s celebrity-obsessedworld, this is a way to engage with peo-ple who might not otherwise be inter-ested in stately homes, and it might be

ly associate us as Brideshead, so we’renot in the running for endless TV orlocation work. Some houses specificallygo out into the market for that sort ofthing – they don’t want advertisingbecause they want film crews to keepcoming back. We, on the other hand,wanted the reverse.

“But it was thanks to both of themthat we were able to restore some of therooms in the house. Not only did we getcash from them, but we also got helpwith the restoration, so it was doublyefficient from that point of view.”

This is an important point: toremain open and able to show to thepublic, frequent restoration is needed.Both Berkeley Castle and CastleHoward face ongoing problems withthings that need replacing; somethingpart and parcel of owning any house,but a much more difficult problem withsuch old buildings. But such attemptsare crucial if one feels, as both do, thatstately homes have a duty to informand educate the public about the erasthey represent.

Howard states: “Education issomething that we all strive to assistwith in these houses, no matterwhether that is to do with the history orthe fine art or the gardening or archi-tecture or whatever. We feel we have aplace on the curriculum to add furthervalue to people’s aspirations.”

I asked both owners if it feels oddto have their respective family historiesso widely known, and to know that theytoo will be added to guide books forfuture generations. Both, however, saidthat they had grown up with the notionand were used to it. “It’s probably much

more affecting for my wife, who mar-ried into it,” says Howard. He continuestellingly: “She sort of married thehouse as well as me. It’s much more dif-ficult for her, because you are on duty24 hours a day and seven days a week –you live on the shop.”

Berkeley goes into more detail. “Itcertainly was strange as a child, grow-ing up there. It was odd to wake up andthen just see people wandering roundthe castle or film crews just perched onthe roof. But now I like the fact thatthere are people enjoying the castle andhopefully learning from it, and for meit’s a great privilege to live in a castlethat’s enjoyed by so many people.”

However, he did not always feelthis way. When he was younger, hemoved away for a time and questionedwhether life at the castle was truly whathe wanted. “It felt a bit suffocating tobe constantly reminded about the cas-tle wherever I was. I thought, ‘I don’treally want this, it’s stopping me’. But Ithink that was just a period of change.I wanted to be away from that atmos-phere, but then I was refreshed andcame back and realised that this wasmy future and I was very privileged tobe the custodian of such a place.”

To own such a house is a substan-tial commitment - it would be almostimpossible to give up and move away,knowing that your ancestors have livedthere for centuries. Even if both theowners I spoke to seemed to haveaccepted this, it wouldn’t suit everyone.Such important buildings end updefining you and can be overpowering.Not everyone would be able to cope

knowing that their house will have amuch greater impact on people’s livesthan they ever will. The house doesn’tbelong to you: you belong to the house.

Many houses were always open tothe public on a limited scale, includingCastle Howard. Standing at the gates ofthe house, staring down the long drive,it is quite difficult not to be intimidat-ed. The lavish architecture wasdesigned with this in mind; the housewas built to show off. But it would befoolish to forget that, however grandand impressive, the houses were usual-ly originally built as homes to live in.

But despite Howard’s andBerkeley’s best attempts to convince methat they lead a perfectly normal homelife, this statement is somewhatdestroyed upon visting Castle Howard.My industrious Muse Editor was sosceptical that she enquired whetherthey really ate Cheerios in the state din-ing room. Apparently so. We also madeseveral not particularly subtle inquiriesas to the number of parties held at thehouse. Sadly, we didn’t manage towrangle an invite.

But what does the future hold forthese houses, particularly in the reces-sion? Howard is cautiously optimistic,as Castle Howard had a record numberof visitors last year, with 230,000 peo-ple coming through the doors. “Therecession helps us, in a way – last year,people stayed at home rather thangoing abroad, therefore they visitedattractions in this country. But I’m notquite sure what’s going to happen thisyear, I don’t think anybody does. Ithink people are not spending the kindof money they spent before.”

In contrast, things may be harderfor Berkeley Castle, perhaps because ittrades more off its history than themore high-profile Castle Howard. “It’sgoing to be a difficult time. Our visitornumbers have gone down over the lastfew years, even before the recessionreally hit, partly because there’s somuch competition out there for thingsfor people to do and see. We need to dorestoration work, and it’s a question ofborrowing some of the money andhopefully getting some outside fund-ing, but it’s not easy. It is a wonderfulplace with wonderful history around it,but there’s no instant cure; there won’tsuddenly be a cheque coming out ofnowhere to do everything. But as longas we can keep on top of things, I thinkthe future is good for the castle.”

Stately homes act as symbols forBritish history. They are a tangible wayof accessing the past; a house will bethere long after the lives of colourfulcharacters who populate them havepassed away into the words of history.

In Blenheim Palace near Oxford,there is an inscription on the organ inthe library, which states “in memory ofhappy days, as a tribute to this glorioushome, we leave thy voice to speak with-in these walls in years to come whenours are still”. And this is why they areso important.

Yes, they can be beautiful to lookat but these buildings provide a linkwith the past that can perhaps not bereplicated elsewhere. Whilst we stillhave such a link, we should not be ableto, and should not want to, forget allthat has gone before in our history. M

expected that this is a market theycould tap in to.

Berkeley states that, “it glamorisesthe castle a bit [to be used in TV andfilm] and shows people what life usedto be like at the castle. But we don’toverdo it. What you see is what you get,and we don’t really go out of our way toattract filming.” But having said that,he admits, “we have found there havebeen small increases in numbers – nothuge – but small increases when we’vehad TV and drama”.

Castle Howard is irrevocably theBrideshead of Waugh’s novel. The icon-ic 1981 TV show remains famous, and a2008 film adaptation was also filmedat the house. Howard explains that inboth cases, the film crews approachedhim rather than the other way round.“As far as we’re concerned, we couldnever have paid for the advertising thatBrideshead gave us.” Walking roundthe house, it is fascinating to see whatparts were restored by the family andwhat by the film producers. Woodenwalls were repainted with a marbleeffect rather than replacing thestonework, and a guide informed usthat, once filming ended, some of therooms were left with half a woodenfloor.

However, Howard points out thatany economic benefits come at a cost:“Because of the productions, we don’thave that many people coming to see usas a location. Most producers anddirectors take one look and immediate-

“To own such a house is a substantial com-mitment and such important buildings endup defining you. The house doesn’t belongto you: you belong to the house.”