Built by A. W. Pugin for himself and his family in 1843 the house was rescued from development by the Landmark Trust in 1997. Seven years of painstaking analysis of the fabric of the house and contemporary documentary evidence was carried out before restoration work began. Externally the roof was returned to its original, double-ridged profile, lost after a fire in 1904, stonework on several of the chimneystacks required complete rebuilding and much of the badly-eroded stonework needed restoring. Internally, the stained glass used for the upper lights of the windows in the most important rooms and in Pugin?s private chapel required expert cleaning and restoration. The same company which had supplied Pugin supplied replacement brass door fittings and reproduced enamelled brass shields for the fireplaces. Several survivals of Pugin?s personal wallpaper design were found beneath later joinery, allowing Cole & Son to recreate it in four different original colourways.
