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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Mark Brown North of England correspondent

RARE PHOTOS: A new rising the county durham castle undergoing a transformation | Rare Historical Photos

Lord and Lady Barnard stand in front of Raby Castle
Lord and Lady Barnard are converting buildings across the estate into places for dining, events, hospitality and retail. Photograph: Mark Pinder/The Guardian

“It is Walt Disney meets Buckingham Palace,” says Lady Kate Barnard in the spectacularly showy Octagon drawing room of Raby Castle. “Barbie would love it.”

You get a sense Barnard is not such a fan. “It would have been so beautiful,” she sighs. “It would have been a round room and unfortunately when [the Victorian architect William] Burn came in 1840 he did … this. It was the height of good taste then.”

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