Cowley House

Cowley House is a moderately large house built shortly after 1788 for William Jackson of Exeter, designed by William Jackson’s father, a musician and painter from Exeter, and constructed by ‘Mr Hicks, builder’. The house is stuccoed with a slate-hipped double-span roof behind a blocking course, featuring a moulded cornice. Moulded stringcourses run at both the first and ground floor levels. It has a double-depth plan and is arranged over two and a half storeys, with a 3:1:3 window arrangement, the outer sections each having a three-storey, three-window segmental bow. The windows are 12-pane sashes with glazing bars, while the second floor features smaller 6-pane sashes. A central, segmental-headed doorway is topped with a fanlight, panelled double doors, and a moulded cornice supported by console brackets. Above the doorway is a reset 17th-century figure of an armed man standing over a running hart. A two-storey, two-bay wing is located on the right-hand (north-east) side, with 12-pane sashes and a first-floor moulded string course. A semi-circular stair bay rises at the rear. A 20th-century single-storey wing extends to the south-west. The interior retains some good quality features, including an elegant dog-leg staircase with scrolled balusters, oddly decorated newels crowned with ogee finials, and semi-circular wall niches at each stair angle. The stairwell windows retain their original leading, and the original doors have been preserved throughout. A letter from William Jackson dated 1788, containing a rough draft plan of the house and grounds, is held by Midland Bank plc, Regional Office (Devon).