Stedcombe House

Stedcombe House is a large house overlooking the Axe valley, built around 1697 by Richard Hallett and restored 1988 to 1990 by C Rae-Scott. The house is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with Beer and Portland stone dressings. It has a slate hipped roof with modillion eaves cornice and a leaded flat around the belvedere.

The plan is square and double-depth with opposed entries in the west and east elevations, two rooms wide with main and service stairs between rooms on the east and north sides.

The exterior is of two storeys, basement and attic, arranged five by five bays. It features a moulded stone plinth, channelled quoins and a moulded band at first-floor level. Windows have moulded stone architraves with small keyblocks. The basement has two-light stone-mullioned windows to the east, north and south elevations, and two by two lights to the west elevation.

The west door, doorcase and steps date from 1989 and are a reproduction of the original, with similar moulded architrave and canopy on scrolled consoles with carved acanthus ornament. The east elevation has a semi-circular arch over half-glazed doors of 1989, with the doors and fanlight being a conjectural reconstruction of the original.

Original nine by nine pane sashes with thick glazing bars survive on the north elevation and one 11 by six radius headed sash to the belvedere. Another sash to the belvedere is an early 18th-century repair. Other sashes, after the original, were installed in 1989, incorporating glass from decayed early 19th-century sashes. Lead rainwater furniture dates from 1989. Three triangular-pedimented dormers appear on each facade, all reproductions of 1989.

The belvedere sits at the centre of the roof, a square brick structure with moulded stone cornice, quoins and semi-circular arched window on each side with stone voussoirs. Small chimneystacks stand at the corners, having Portland stone caps of 1989. Stone-mullioned basement windows include some leaded lights that are restorations after the original. An original panelled basement door survives on the west elevation. The basement is surrounded by a path enclosed by brick walls surmounted by iron railings of 1989.

The interior was restored to an exceptionally high standard by Mr Rae-Scott in 1988 to 1990. Of the 45 doors, 14 are original, along with 27 percent of the panelling, while almost all fireplaces are careful reproductions after the original. The basement has original features including a keyed arched timber door architrave to the wine cellar, plank doors with bolts and Norfolk latches, and 18th-century panelled cupboard doors, one to the north-east dated 1742.

The main floors are panelled throughout with straight-cut, ovolo-mould or bolection-moulded panelling. A circa 1730 egg and dart surround to the fireplace survives in the west first-floor room, a circa 1690 red marble bolection surround in the north-east ground-floor room, and a circa 1695 stone flat bolection surround to the north-east first-floor room. The main first-floor rooms each open into two closets.

The main stairhall has a cyma-moulded cornice of 1989, after the original, to the ground floor and an enriched cornice to the first floor, a quarter of which is restored, with corner shells and foliate-floral motifs. The open-well stair has two twisted balusters per tread and a panelled dado. The back stairs positioned to the north rise from basement to attic, with turned balusters on a closed string rising around an open well. The cornice and balustrade to the belvedere gallery were installed in 1989.

The Halletts had bought the estate in 1691 from Sir Walter Yonge of Escot. According to Cherry in 1988, in size Stedcombe stands between the larger country houses and a number of smaller brick houses such as Pinbrook which were built around Exeter as villas for wealthy merchants in the late 17th century. An exceptionally fine and complete example of this type of small late 17th-century country house, the compact and centralised plan being an early example.