Gothic splendours

A disastrous fire in 2005 prompted the rebirth of an outstanding Victorian house with a deep and remarkable history, as John Goodall explains

Allerton Castle, North Yorkshire A property of the Gerald Arthur Rolph Foundation for Historic Preservation and Education IN the early 1980s, a businessman from Florida, Gerald Rolph, was in search of a castle in Ireland to use as a summer house. After a fruitless search of many months, he was persuaded to visit Allerton in North Yorkshire in October 1983. The house—in its present form largely rebuilt from 1848—had been in institutional use for the best part of 20 years and was in urgent need of far-reaching repair. Most people would have been intimidated, but Dr Rolph was delighted by the building, which he offered to buy the very next day, and determined to restore ‘as part of English and world heritage’. Over the following years, the roof of the…

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Country Life (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 12, 2025

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