The Round House

The Round House is a summerhouse, now functioning as a cottage, built around 1740 for Swayne Harbin of Newton House. It features stone ashlar construction and a stone slate roof between coped gables, topped by a conical roof on the central tower. The building has one brick and one stone chimney stack.

The central tower is octagonal and two stories high, with curved corner faces and flat faces oriented towards the main quarters. The entrance is located on the east face of the tower, featuring 20th-century doors set within an Ionic surround that includes Gibbsian flat pilasters and a full entablature above. This entablature continues as a string course. Above the entrance is an eared architraved 16-pane cruciform casement window with a triple keystone, set in quintuple keyed openings, one of which is blind. The building also has a plinth, cill band, floor and eaves strings, and a cornice with dentils over the entrance, as well as a deep parelled balustrade.

The extensions to the north and south have lower upper stories and feature architraved windows, which were originally sashes but now vary. The Round House is one of three similar follies that were visible to each other; the other two, located at Chilton Cantelo and Nontacute House, have mostly disappeared. The three owners used to signal to one another.