Trayne House

Trayne House is a large, mainly mid to late 19th century house situated within a street group in Modbury, Devon. It incorporates earlier service accommodation and is based on a house of 1780. The house is constructed with smooth rendered walls and a slate roof. It is a broad, double-depth block featuring a continuous colonnade to the street, originally embracing a former pavement area. The main frontage partially incorporates North Traine, and the descriptions of the two properties are complementary.

The building is two storeys and an attic, with five windows on the principal frontage (originally six). The ground floor windows are four-pane sashes in plain reveals, while the first floor windows are set within moulded and eared architraves. A four-panel 19th century door is located in the fourth bay. The eight-bay colonnade, which includes the last two bays of North Traine, has Roman Doric columns on granite podia, paired at the ends and to the doorway. The colonnade rises into the street level, featuring coloured tile paving, a boarded soffit to a balcony with a classical balustrade. A main cornice is detailed with modillions, topped by a central shaped flush gable and a parapet with inset balustrade groups above each window. There is a channelled pilaster to the left end, with the balcony balustrade returned to the face of South Traine, complementing the overall design. The left return side has a two-light casement in the attic and an external stack.

The rear elevation has five windows, featuring two-light mullion-and-transome casements with dropped hood moulds under a cornice and modelled parapet. A projecting porch in the second bay has a flat-roofed portico supported by paired Doric columns and a balustrade, with a shaped gable above. To the right is a canted bay with a hipped roof set against a shaped gable, and an octagonal turret housing a lead dome extending far right.

Interiors retain much of the Victorian detailing, including doors, shutters, marble fireplaces, and a grand staircase hall. This hall features an L-plan staircase to the landing, with a cast iron balustrade and a rich decorative plaster cornice.

According to local historical records, Trayne House was built in 1780 for the absentee Reverend John Tripe Swete. However, little evidence of the original 1780s structure remains, suggesting a substantial rebuilding occurred in the 19th century. The house is considered a noble embellishment to the street with excellent interiors representative of its period.