Stepleton House

Stepleton House is a country house dating from the early to mid 17th century, with significant alterations made in the late 17th and mid 18th centuries, and further additions of mid 18th-century pavilions. The house is constructed of ashlar walls with hipped, stone-slated roofs, and has clustered, round brick stacks at the rear of the ridge. Originally, the plan appears to have been of a courtyard-type, with the main entrance likely located to the east. Later, the entrance was moved to the south front, the building was reroofed, and the courtyard roofed. The flanking pavilions were added in the mid 18th century.

The main south front has two storeys with attics and basements, and measures 6 bays by 5 bays. A central two-bay section, dating from the 18th century, features rusticated stonework on the ground floor and is topped by a pediment. An upper floor round-headed niche projects from the pediment. Late 18th or early 19th-century 12-pane sash windows are set within moulded stone architraves. A weathered stone course runs along the front and a moulded eaves cornice is present. The roof has three pedimented dormers, the central one being segmental. A central panelled door is sheltered by a flat stone hood supported on scrolled brackets.

The east front has a single-bay pedimented centrepiece with a rusticated doorway, a flat stone hood on scrolled brackets, and a round-headed window with a keystone, flanked by Ionic pilasters. The pavilions, best viewed from the north, are built of greensand ashlar with hipped stone-slate roofs behind parapets and have central brick stacks. They have first-floor plat bands and a modillioned parapet cornice. Each pavilion is two storeys high with five bays, featuring 12-pane sashes in moulded architraves with keystones; some windows are false. The connecting passage walls have rusticated pilaster strips and panelled doors with moulded architraves and keystones. The east passage incorporates an open Ionic loggia on the south side.

Internal features, largely from the 18th century, include carved fireplaces, doorways, and panelling, as well as Rococo plasterwork ceilings. The main staircase has stone steps with a shaped soffit and moulded nosings, and a scrolled wrought-iron balustrade supporting a moulded and veneered wooden handrail. A 17th-century rear staircase has turned balusters and square handrails. The study retains early 17th-century panelling.