Duke'S House, Including Wall Of Terrace To South

Duke's House, built in 1873 for a Darlington banker and extended in a sympathetic style in the early 20th century, is a large baronial building featuring Gothic ornamentation on a primarily classical arrangement. The structure is symmetrical to the south and very unsymmetrical to the west, with two storeys, an attic, and a basement. The south front has six bays, while the west front has four. It is constructed of snecked smooth rubble with ashlar dressings and features plate glass sash windows. The design includes numerous gables, some with crow-stepped profiles, two turrets with conical roofs, and a dormer on the south front topped with a pyramidal roof. The skyline is enhanced by several tall chimney stacks with conjoined circular shafts that have roll moulded cornices and fillets.

The south front displays a rhythm of canted bays alternating with flat bays and tall gabled dormers. The entrance front features a variety of projections, bays, and turrets, including a large crenellated porch with a gabled panel above an ogival doorway. The parapet of the south front extends over a two-storey bay to the right of the west front. There is quasi-machicolation in the second bay from the left on the south front, located above three pointed cusp sash windows and in a three-light oriel on the west side. The terrace to the south is supported by buttressed ramparts to the east and west, with wide central steps leading to a lower terrace that includes a ha-ha.

Inside, the hall features Gothic cornices and applied shafts to the doorcases, along with a large crenellated fireplace. The staircase has carved corbels on the beam above, and the newel post is adorned with stiff leaf ornament. The parlour contains a wooden Italian fireplace with carved scenes, such as the Birth of Venus, and there is a pointed arch at the head of the staircase. The library, added in the early 20th century, is panelled and features a fireplace with a four-centred arch head.