Lullingstone Castle

Lullingstone Castle, originally Lullingstone House, was first built between 1543 and 1580 by Sir Percyvall Hart. Surviving elements from this initial construction can be seen in the north and east fronts, as well as the Gatehouse. The house was significantly altered and remodeled in the 18th century by Percyvall Hart, an admirer of Queen Anne and Non-Juror, and by Sir John Dixon Dyke. It became known as Lullingstone Castle in the mid-18th century after Anne Hart inherited the property and brought it to Sir Thomas Dyke through marriage.

The house is three storeys high, constructed of red brick with a tiled roof, and features sash windows with original glazing bars. The north front is L-shaped, featuring projecting bays on all floors, three chimney breasts to the recessed portion, and a parapet at the west end. The east front also includes a chimney breast. The main, west-facing entrance front has a recessed two-storey central portion dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, with three windows and a modillion eaves cornice. A 19th-century ground floor addition in front of this section contains the front door, flanked by pilasters, a pediment, and a balustrade above. Projecting three-storey blocks from the early 18th century are located on either side of the recessed central portion, with three windows each. The two outer window bays of each projecting block are slightly set back from the 19th-century ground floor addition; brick stringcourses and a wooden modillion eaves cornice are present on these projecting blocks. A two-storey bay was added to the return south front of the south block in the 19th century. The south front itself, located to the east of this bay, dates from the 18th century. A further addition from the early 19th century is located in the south-east corner.

The interior contains notable features, including early 18th-century panelling, a staircase with slim turned balusters, and a State Drawing Room occupying the upper two floors of the west front. The State Drawing Room contains a late 16th-century plaster barrel vault with thick, enriched ribs arranged in a quatrefoil pattern, along with three large pendants and roundels of Roman Emperors, and walls hung with early 18th-century panelling featuring fluted Corinthian pilasters.