Child's view of 1920s Christmas created at Harewood House

Christmas rooms include a field of Swarovski crystal-encrusted sunflowers growing across Chippendale furniture, a fragrant army of 500 gingerbread people in the kitchen Below Stairs, and a dining table laden with the most marvellous cakes.

Visitors follow a curated journey that leads them through childlike fantasy and wonder, in a work of imagination created bespoke to Harewood’s history.

Jane Marriott, Director of the Harewood House Trust, says: “We are excited to be presenting our second Christmas at Harewood in recent years.

“We’re taking visitors back in time to the 1920s, to see Christmas through the eyes of the two little boys who lived here; the late Earl, George and his brother Gerald Lascelles.

“This is a wonderful work of fiction, which is based on historical fact - George was the current Earl’s father and both boys were the sons of the 6th Earl and Princess Mary.”

Simon Costin has worked internationally on catwalk designs with fashion designers and his inspiration for Harewood stemmed from research into who was living in the House in the 1920s, and imagining how they might see it.

The resulting installations offer more than a sprinkling of festive spirit.

New locations to discover in the House include the Red Staircase, normally closed to the public and the refurbished Billiard Room, formerly the Earl’s study and now an intimate and pleasant location for Afternoon Tea.

A new display of the orginial pyjamas of George and Gerald, together with photographs from their childhood, can be seen in Princess Mary’s Garden Room and a Christmas shop has been set up.

1920s Christmas at Harewood House is open until January 6, 10am-6pm.