Euston Hall

Euston Hall is a mansion built in the 1660s for Lord Arlington, incorporating the core of an earlier house. It was remodelled in the mid-18th century by Matthew Brettingham, rebuilt after a serious fire in 1902, and significantly reduced in size in 1951 when the south and west wings were demolished. The building is constructed of red brick with balustraded stone parapets and dressings. It is two storeys high with attics, and features three-storey corner turrets topped with low pyramidal roofs.

The north front, designed by Brettingham, is characterized by a restrained style with nine bays and small-paned sash windows set in flush frames. The central three windows are more widely spaced. A single-storey porch, its flat roof concealed by a cornice and parapet, features a semi-circular arched doorway with a rusticated surround.

A late 17th-century dog-leg staircase survives within the north range; it has bulbous balusters, a wide moulded handrail, and hanging finials, representing a remnant of the original Arlington House. John Evelyn, the diarist, visited Euston Hall in 1671 and described it as a “very noble pile...very magnificent and commodious.” At that time, the corner turrets were domed, and the main entrance in the west range had a tall porch with giant angle pilasters. The original house formed three sides of a courtyard.

Brettingham’s remodelling included replacing the domed turrets with pyramidal roofs, mirroring those at Holkham Hall, and adding a three-bay pediment to the centre of the west front. An illustration from "Excursions through Suffolk," 1819, described the house at that time as "large and commodious of a modern date, built of red brick, and without any gaudy decoration within or without."

Lord Arlington, a member of Charles II's Cabal and Lord Chamberlain, passed the estate to his daughter and heiress, who married Henry Fitzroy, later Duke of Grafton. Euston Hall has remained the seat of the Dukes of Grafton.