Maristow House

Maristow House

Coordinates: 50°27′41″N 4°09′03″W / 50.4613°N 4.1509°W / 50.4613; -4.1509 Maristow House is located in Devon, England, just north of Plymouth, on the River Tavy. It was built circa 1560 and rebuilt in the mid-18th century and further remodelled in the early 20th century. It was the residence of the Lopes family: they had links with the Great Western Railway. The house was ruined by fire after the Second World War, but was restored and converted into apartments in the late 1990s by Kit Martin.^[1][2][3] It is a Grade II* listed building ^[4]

History

The Heywood family built an imposing Georgian mansion here in the 1760s. In 1798, the house and estate were bought by the Jamaican-born Manasseh Masseh Lopes, the son of a rich plantation owner, whose family later gained the title of Baron Roborough: their seat remained at Maristow until 1938. In 1907, the house was extended and altered. Above it rises the spire of St Martin's chapel, built in 1871 as a successor to an earlier 14th century chapel here (architect: J. P. St Aubyn).

After the Lopes family left, the house served a variety of purposes: a servicemen’s hospital during World War II; a retirement home for clergy; a residential school, and a field-study centre. Following two disastrous fires, the house has now been carefully restored as twelve private homes.^[5]

References