Castle Howard can be hired for board meetings, conferences, private dinners, weddings and large receptions, from a meeting for 14 people around a boardroom table to a reception for 1,000 guests in the gardens. The house stands in the Howardian Hills of North Yorkshire, about 30 minutes by road from York, and is still the home of the Howard family.
Seminars and company events
The house and grounds are available for exclusive hire on selected dates, and the in-house events team plans each event from start to finish. The Grecian Hall works for meetings, with a boardroom layout for 24, a U-shape for 16 and theater seating for 50, and the Long Gallery seats 200 in theater style. Conferences and company dinners can be combined with guided tours: behind-the-scenes tours of the house, tours of the filming locations and tractor trailer tours of the wider estate. Many of the estate's concerts and public events also offer hospitality packages for companies.
Weddings and receptions
The estate hosts weddings and parties for several hundred guests. Ceremonies can take place in the Great Hall for up to 150 people, in the Walled Garden for 100 or more, in the Stable Courtyard for 200, or on the Walled Flat for 500 or more. Receptions follow in the Long Gallery or in the gardens.
Rooms and capacities
Inside the house, the Great Hall rises to a dome 70 feet high and takes 150 for a ceremony, 100 for a reception or 50 for a banquet. The Long Gallery, 160 feet long, seats 228 for a banquet and holds 250 for a reception. The Grecian Hall takes 80 for a banquet and 100 for a reception, and the adjoining Grecian Gallery holds 60 standing and serves as a bar or buffet area. The Garden Hall, on the principal floor with doors onto the South Steps, takes 30 for a banquet or 50 for a reception. All five rooms are wheelchair accessible.
In the gardens, the Temple of the Four Winds holds 40, the Gardener's House and its private garden 100 for a reception, and the Walled Garden 250 for a reception or 75 for dinner. The Boar Garden and the Walled Flat each take up to 1,000 guests for a reception and 200 or more for dinner. At the Stable Courtyard, the cobbled courtyard takes 400 for a reception and the Courtyard Café 60.
Accommodation
The house has no guest bedrooms for events. The estate lets holiday cottages in its villages and holiday homes at the Lakeside Holiday Park, and runs a caravan and camping park.
Catering
The in-house team, led by Executive Head Chef Nathan Richardson Kelly, prepares seasonal menus that range from grand dinners to barbecues and buffets. Clients can also bring their own caterer, who works from the large in-house kitchen. Produce from the Walled Garden is used in the estate's cafés.
History and setting
Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor designed the house in 1699 for Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, and nine generations of the family have lived here since. The Long Gallery was fitted out by Charles Heathcote Tatham in the 1810s and redecorated in 2025. The Temple of the Four Winds was completed in 1738, and John Carr built the stables in the 1780s. The house appeared in Brideshead Revisited and Bridgerton.
Getting there
York is about 30 minutes away by road. The estate has car parking and a coach park next to the Stable Courtyard.
