Mothecombe House

Mothecombe House is a country house dating back to approximately 1710, originally built for John Pollexfen. It occupies a site near an earlier manor house. The house was restored and extended between 1922 and 1925 with the addition of a dining room wing designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The main house is constructed of coursed and dressed slate with granite dressings. It has a steeply pitched hipped slate roof featuring a heavy coved eaves cornice that projects over corner pilasters. The layout is square, with two storeys, an attic, and a basement. Five bays define the facade. Tall, narrow sash windows with restored thick glazing bars are set within segmentally arched openings and surrounded by exposed boxing. The centre first-floor window is distinguished by a rusticated granite architrave. The central doorway is characterized by heavy rusticated granite pilasters and voussoirs, flanked by slender Tuscan columns on substantial bases, supporting a moulded hood resting on carved scroll brackets. A flight of steps leads to the entrance, featuring a 20th-century wrought iron balustrade. Three hipped dormers, each with a moulded cornice and a casement window, are visible on the roof. Large chimney stacks are topped with dentilled cornices.

The south side mirrors the five-bay design, but lacks the rusticated centrepiece. A basement is situated beneath this section, and in 1873 a segmentally arcaded terrace was built across it, further enhanced by Lutyens with the addition of steps and slate-on-edge paving. The Lutyens dining room wing projects at a right angle to the southwest corner and is built of green slate ashlar with a hipped slate roof and a coved eaves cornice projecting over corner pilasters. This single-storey wing has three tall windows facing the garden, set in deep reveals with shutters. A connecting doorway to the main house features a tall, plain architrave with a keyblock and roundel set within a square recess. A very large sundial is positioned on the south side. The wing is built over wide segmental arches, creating an open lower ground level.

The interior remains largely intact, retaining elements such as bolection moulded panelling and cornices. While the hall features a bolection chimneypiece, the others are later additions. The staircase has three twisted balusters per tread and a moulded handrail rising to the newels. A pilaster cornice on the staircase landing is decorated with acanthus leaves. In the Lutyens dining room, features include a moulded cornice and chimneypiece, a pair of giant, non-structural columns at the entrance, and a vaulted corridor connecting it to the main house.