No.15: Castle Howard, Yorkshire - £42m

Yorkshire's finest historic house has been the home of the Howard family for over 300 years.

Designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawsmoor in flamboyant Baroque style, it shot to fame as the country seat of the dissolute Marchmains in the 1980s TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited.

At the heart of a 13,000-acre estate, part of the house was destroyed by fire in 1940, since when it has been substantially refurbished, although the current owner, the Hon Simon Howard, admits he has not personally visited all 145 rooms.

As well as film crews, the house also hosts weddings and high-class corporate events. It would be worth considerably more were it further south.