Capel Manor House, including the remains of the winter garden and the arcaded retaining wall with balustrade and steps belonging to an earlier house

Capel Manor House is a single-storey modernist residence with an exposed steel frame, painted brown, that rests on a reinforced concrete podium supported by the stone walls of a Victorian basement. The external walls are entirely glazed with bronze-tinted glass in aluminium frames without corner mullions, creating an uninterrupted visual connection between interior and exterior. The flat timber roof spans between steel purlins.

The rectangular plan comprises a central sunken living area opening to a kitchen and dining area to the east, with two bedrooms and bathrooms to the west. The basement incorporates part of the earlier Victorian Capel Manor's basement structure.

The house is positioned at the elevated northern part of the site, with its principal south-facing elevation addressing the sloping landscape. The design formally respects the retained Victorian elements: the centre of the south elevation aligns with wide stone steps descending to a lower terrace, from which the house's flat roof appears to float just above an arcaded stone retaining wall of the earlier house. This wall comprises a blind earth-retaining stone wall in front of which runs a round-arched arcade of rough-faced ashlar blocks with an impost band, topped with a stone balustrade now covered in creepers.

To the west, the house aligns with the remains of the winter garden from the earlier house, now surrounding a swimming pool. This earlier fabric consists of a blind stone wall of rough-faced ashlar to the north and a colonnade of square stone columns carrying an entablature to the south and west.

Each of the four rectangular glass elevations functions as a facade, differentiated only by aspect. Access points exist on all sides. The roof structure projects beyond the external walls on all sides, forming a wood-lined canopy over the tiled podium.

The interior is open-plan with dark-brown facing brick or painted render internal walls, and wood-lined ceilings. Floors are tiled or carpeted with under-floor heating. The glazed walls effectively incorporate the garden into the living spaces.

In 2010, the house underwent major refurbishment including renewal of floor and ceiling coverings to match the originals closely. The bathrooms and kitchen were refitted, with the kitchen reconfigured to incorporate a small study that had occupied the north-east corner. The roof was recovered with rubberised material replacing bitumen felt, and photovoltaic panels were installed. These works renewed original fabric with like-for-like or near like-for-like replacements without compromising the building's special interest.

The significance of this house rests not in the intrinsic historic interest of individual materials, but in the design concept and its sophisticated architectural expression as an exemplar of its period and genre. For a building of this progressive and structurally atypical type, periodic renewal or upgrading of fabric is necessary; when executed with care and sensitivity to the original character and concept, such work can be carried out without compromising the building's special interest.