<text>  A collection of treasures from one of Britains grandest country houses is to be sold for more than 10million to help pay for the upkeep of the property which is famed for its starring role in hit TV show Brideshead Revisited. The items, which range from a 3.5million painting of Venices Grand Canal by Bernardo Bellotto to a 1.2million portrait of Henry VIII, are from a private collection of Castle Howard in North Yorkshire. Set in the rolling Howardian hills, the 18th Century country house is owned by the Howard family, having been passed down from its original owner the 3rd Early of Carlisle who lived at the property in 1699. Scroll down for video . Treasured items from Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, which featured in TV drama Brideshead Revisited and is currently occupied by Simon Howard and his wife Rebecca pictured, are to be auctioned off for more than 10million to help secure the future of the grand country estate . Set in the rolling Howardian hills in North Yorkshire, the 18th Century country house is owned by the Howard family, having been passed down from its original owner the 3rd Early of Carlisle who lived at the property in 1699. Brothers Simon and Nicholas currently reside in the house . The items are to be auctioned for more than 10million, including a 3.5million artwork of Venices Grand Canal by Bernardo Bellotto above. It was painted by Bellotto when he was just 16-years-old, at a time when he was working in the studio of his uncle - Italian painter Canaletto . The treasures have been collected over the last 300 years but will now be auctioned in the summer to help the current owners of Castle Howard brothers Nicholas and Simon Howard secure the houses financial future. The collection has been hailed as one of the finest in private hands anywhere in the world, but the Howards have insisted selling the items will not damage the integrity of the overall collection at the estate. As well as paintings and portraits, the collection of 10 items also includes 17th-century Italian furniture and Roman antiquities. However, the most expensive piece is the artwork of Venices Grand Canal by Bernardo Bellotto, who was the pupil and nephew of Canaletto, which has an estimated value of 3.5million. Another sought-after item is the portrait of Henry VIII from the studio of acclaimed court painter Hans Holbein, which shows the monarch standing in a rich red coat and carrying his gold sceptre. Other lots in the upmarket collection include Ferdinand Bols Portrait of a Boy, which has an estimate of between 2million and 3million, and a Roman Egyptian vase which has a guide price of up to 600,000. It also includes a pair of extremely rare Italian pietre dure inlaid cabinets made in Rome in the 17th Century, which are expected to sell for up to 1million. The sale comes just months after the Howard family announced changes at the distinct country home. The house, which gained notoriety after being used as the backdrop to TV dramas Brideshead Revisited and Stanley Kubricks Barry Lyndon, is under financial pressure. It has been occupied for the last 32 years by Simon, who volunteered to take on the ownership after graduating from Eton in 1983. Nearly 20 years later, he married his second wife Rebecca dubbed The Woman Who Set Out To Marry A House by Vanity Fair magazine and she soon gave birth to twins, Merlin and Octavia. They threw themselves into the huge task of upkeeping the property and its 10,000 acre estate. However, in recent years Simon was diagnosed with throat cancer, and his older brother Nicholas who had been working as a photographer in London decided to move into the property with his wife Victoria, a former chief executive of HarperCollins. Other items to be sold at auction include a 1542 portrait of Henry VIII from the studio of Hans Holbein, which is expected to fetch up to 1.2million right. A pair of Italian pietrre dure and ormolu-mounted cabinets from the early 17th Century left are to sell for up to 1million . A 17th Century Dutch painting - Ferdinand Bols Portrait of a Boy pictured - will also be auctioned by the Howard family for up to 3million . A white marble bust of Anne of Austria, Wife of Louis XIII, from France in the mid-17th Century has a guide price of between 50,000 to 70,000 . Simon Howard has lived in the grand house for 32 years and moved his second wife Rebecca pictured left in just over 10 years ago. His older brother Nicholas has now also moved into the property with his wife Victoria, a former chief executive of HarperCollins together right Castle Howard, which was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and built between 1699 and 1712, has been home to 10 generations of the Howard family. Spreading out over 145 rooms, the house is considered one of Vanbrughs greatest achievements. Its magnificent art collection includes ancient sculptures, Old Masters and works by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. The house comes complete with temples, follies, peacocks, 100 staff and 10,000 rolling acres as well as 250,000 paying visitors a year. The estate is owned by a private limited company, and is occupied by brothers Simon and Nicholas Howard and their respective families. Both families now contribute to the day-to-day running of the house, and the plan to auction off treasured items comes after they looked into options to reduce the homes annual upkeep costs. As well as selling off treasured keeps, another money-saving plan includes fitting an environmentally-friendly heating system to halve the houses annual fuel bill but the outlay cost is 160,000 alone. Nicholas said the aim of the auction, which will be conducted with Sothebys in London, was to help move the house into the next century. He said: I am privileged to be able to say that Castle Howard is my familys heritage and has been since it was built over 300 years ago. With that privilege comes the responsibility of ownership, and the Trustees unanimous decision to hold this sale is the exercise of that responsibility. If the sale helps to secure that heritage as the house moves into its fourth century then it will have achieved its goal. To this end, we have selected for sale at Sothebys a small number of works which, while of great intrinsic interest, have been carefully chosen so as not to detract from the overall integrity of the collection. His brother Simon added: Running Castle Howard for the last 30 years has been an immense privilege. Now, as a new chapter in its history opens, the sales that we are planning at Sothebys will make an important contribution to the long-term future of the Castle Howard estate and collections. Nicholas Howard said the aim of the auction, which will be conducted with Sothebys in London in July, was to help move the house forward . The stunning Yorkshire country estate was used for filming of TV drama Brideshead Revisited, which featured Jeremy Irons in the 1980s . The house gained notoriety after being used as the backdrop to TV dramas Brideshead Revisited and Stanley Kubricks Barry Lyndon . The Howards recently announced plans to fit an environmentally-friendly heating system as part of an attempt to halve the houses annual bills . The treasures to be auctioned have been part of Castle Howard for the last 300 years and have an estimated total guide price of 10million . Henry Wyndham, chairman of Sothebys Europe said the collection ranks among the finest private art collections in the world. She said: The collections at Castle Howard chart two millennia of history and 300 years of collecting. The carefully selected group of works to be auctioned this summer is testament to the taste of a series of enlightened art patrons, starting with the visionary 3rd Earl of Carlisle, and continuing through his Romanophile son, Henry, collector of antiquities and Venetian vedute, to his diplomat grandson Frederick, 5th Earl of Carlisle, who is thought by many to have been the most refined English collector of the period around 1800. The collection will be auctioned, with a combined estimate in excess of 10million, at the Sothebys London Old Masters and Treasures sale on July 8. 