The New Tapestry Drawing Room at Castle Howard

Francis Terry

The new Tapestry Drawing Room at Castle Howard is a completely new architectural treatment to a room which was destroyed by fire in 1940. The room had been left as an empty shell of charred stonework ever since. The brief was to restore the room to what Vanbrugh would have done and incorporate the four Vanderbank tapestries which were designed and woven for the room in 1706.

The room was designed by Francis Terry and assisted by interior designers Alec Cobbe and Remy Renzullo. Care has been taken to use traditional materials and techniques where possible. All architectural elements of the project were hand drawn by Francis Terry at full size. Unusually, the room uses onsite run plasterwork made in the traditional way, rather than fibrous plaster made off site which is conventionally used. The frieze of the fireplace has a head of Pluto framed by a cartouche which was carved by hand from limewood. The room is painted a dark blue to bring out the colours of the much-faded tapestries. In keeping with the baroque spirit, the decoration is extensively gilded.

Everything in the room, apart from the antiques, paintings, and tapestries, was made in the UK in 2024-5. The crafts used for this room include: – hand carved timber classical ornament, traditional run plasterwork, scagliola manufacture and gilding. The craftsmanship is truly outstanding, and it is a joy to see that the UK is still world leaders in these fields.

Simon Thurley, former chief executive of English Heritage, called the work a "remarkable achievement" that is "worthy of the ambitions" of the house's original 18th-century designers.

The new Tapestry Drawing Room was opened in April 2025 and has since won the Georgian Group ‘Award for Restoration of a Georgian Interior’, Historic House’s ‘The Restoration Award’ and The Traditional Architecture Group’s Award for ‘Best Member’s Project’.