Ryston Hall

Ryston Hall is a country house built between 1669 and 1672, designed by Sir Roger Pratt for himself. It underwent alterations around 1780 by Sir John Soane and further changes in 1867 by Salvin. The house is constructed of brick in English bond with slate roofs. The north front features nine bays across two storeys on a basement, with the central three bays projecting forward under a Mansard roof, which was not part of the original design. There is a square central Tuscan porch designed by Soane, accessed by a sweeping staircase. The windows, also designed by Soane, are sash windows, with those on the piano nobile placed under blank recessed circular tympana. Above the basement, there is a flat brick string course and a timber console eaves cornice. The hipped roof is flat but interrupted by a central Mansard element that includes two dormers supported on side consoles beneath segmental pediments. Soane also designed two-storey hipped side pavilions made of gault brick, featuring Diocletian windows below and sash windows above. The full-height side bays to the east and west were added by Salvin. The south front mirrors the north but includes a three-bay porch made of gault brick in the form of an open loggia, added in 1913.

Inside, Pratt's original ground plan remains, modified from a design developed at Coleshill in Berkshire, featuring a double pile layout with a longitudinal central passage. The main staircase, made of wrought iron by Soane, has a diamond pattern on every second step, with square section risers adorned with fleurons, and a ramped mahogany handrail.