HISTORY MAJOR

At the behest of its current stewards, designer Remy Renzullo and a team of experts and artisans help breathe new life into England's storied Castle Howard

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IF YOU RECOGNIZE the great domed silhouette of Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, England, it might be because you remember either the 1981 television production or the 2008 film version of Brideshead Revisited, based on Evelyn Waugh's classic novel of class, aristocratic English Catholics, and World War II. In both adaptations, Castle Howard stood in for the stately house at the center of the drama. But the Baroque palace's own story is even more captivating than any fictional account, as Remy Renzullo, the young American interior designer currently working on the still-private residence's update, can attest.

Uncannily attuned to the frequencies of 18th-century Britain, Renzullo is part of the team assembled by the house's current custodians, Nicholas and Victoria Howard, as part of the estate's "21st-Century Renaissance," a restoration project whose first fruits opened to the public in April. Though various projects are ongoing (Renzullo says "the notion of ‘finished’ doesn’t really exist” in a house like this), the completion of several important rooms feels like a milestone. And a sumptuous new book commemorating the place and its history will be published by Flammarion in November.

The designer's initial encounter with the house was magical. He had reconnected with old friend Blanche Howard during the early days of the COVID pandemic, and she introduced him to her parents, who were looking for a designer, though she didn’t specify for what. He thought perhaps it was a country house near Bath. Once he realized he was Castle-bound, Renzullo made his way north in the midst of a blizzard. Because of the lockdown, the couple were totally alone in the house as the snow fell. After welcoming him in, he recalls, “Nick and Vicky just took me on a whirlwind tour through the whole house.”