Tregothnan

Tregothnan is a great house built in three distinct phases: 1650, 1816-18, and 1845-8. The second building phase was undertaken by William Wilkins for the fourth Viscount Falmouth, and the third by Lewis Vulliamy for the second Earl of Falmouth. The house is constructed of freestone ashlar in two distinct types: a soft yellow Newham stone, known as Truro porphyry, for the earlier work and a fine hard grey limestone, Pentewan stone, for the later work. The roofs are lead and slate, mostly hidden from view.

The building presents a long range with a central spine corridor, executed in a picturesque Tudor gothic style designed by Wilkins and extended in a similar manner by Vulliamy, who greatly increased the picturesque effect. The house is two storeys high with three tall towers and some attics concealed behind parapets. It features many mullioned and transomed windows of one to five lights with hood moulds, string courses, and battlements throughout with decorative panelling. Many tall Tudor terracotta and stone stacks of different designs add to an extremely picturesque outline.

The entrance north front, from left to right, comprises: a bay added by Vulliamy; three bays by Wilkins, the centre one of which projects as a two storey pointed arch porch with the four storey staircase tower behind; a three storey tower with a canted bay on the ground floor added by Vulliamy; two bays of Wilkins' work; a two storey projecting entrance porch added by Vulliamy; and a kitchen range connecting through to the office court. The east front is chiefly Wilkins' work with an addition to the right by Vulliamy. The garden south front, from left to right, consists of: a projecting single bay wing with crow-stepped gable added by Vulliamy; five bays with much plainer single and two light windows representing a reworking of the 1650 house; and an irregular eight bay range of Wilkins' work, slightly projecting and with an eight light bay window to the right.

Two rooms from the 1650 house survive internally. The common parlour has oak panelling, a chimney piece with caryatids, and a geometric and foliated moulded rib plaster ceiling with a central pendant. The room above the common parlour has a ceiling of similar period but with narrower ribs and more emphasis on floral display. It has a particularly fine fireplace overmantel with a painted panel, drapery festoons, and bolection mouldings. How much these rooms may have been altered from their original appearance is not known.

Wilkins' work is mainly in the Greek taste and of fairly restrained design but shows good quality workmanship. The ballroom and drawing room are said to be the finest of these rooms. The stairhall is in the Gothic mode and appears to have been influenced by Wyatt's work at Ashridge. The staircase is a cantilevered Imperial design with a cast iron balustrade incorporating trefoils and quatrefoils. The hall is lit by a clerestory with three three-light windows on both sides of the tower and separated from the upper corridors by Gothic screens. The ceiling is compartmented with elaborate heraldic decorations. Nothing is known of the Vulliamy rooms.

The interior was not accessible at the time of resurvey and the description has been made from photographs. A full interpretation of the building was not possible and the extent of the survival of the 1650 house remains uncertain. Both north and south fronts of the 1650 section were refaced in grey Pentewan stone in the mid 19th century, which to some extent continued the original appearance remarked upon by Celia Fiennes in 1695: "The house is built all of white stone like the rough coarse marble." It is also uncertain how much of the picturesque decoration of the exterior may be an addition by Vulliamy to create the more romantic outline he gave to the building. It is reputed that there are many original drawings and accounts in the house but these are inaccessible.

The house is increased in value by its exceptionally fine natural setting. The 1650 house was visited and described by Celia Fiennes, cousin of Hugh Boscawen the builder, and it was also the home of Admiral Boscawen in the 18th century.