The Manor House, Seaton, Devon

This Grade II listed town house with its elegant Georgian style frontage is now a Residential Home for the elderly. However, it began life as a Tudor home for the Starr family, and was called Pale House (the rear part of the building having 16th century origins), and later sold to Sir John Willoughby, an earlier Lord of the Manor. The frontage was extended in 1800 by the Trevelyans, who had inherited the house along with the title through marriage from Sir John. Interestingly, there is a Willoughby House a short distance along the road. As far as I know there isn't any connection, as the Willoughby line petered out some hundred or so years earlier than the date of the house, but it is a rather nice coincidence nonetheless.
 

According to the British Listed Buildings website the house was once listed as Manor House School. I couldn't find out much, but with a little digging I came across an obscure item in The Edinburgh Gazette dated November 10, 1959, which mentioned a 'Hilda Ann Feare, of Rose Cottage, Elsing in the county of Norfolk, widow, lately residing and carrying on business at Manor House School, Seaton in the county of Devon, as principal of a private school'.

I also found a reference to a member on the social network website 'LinkedIn' who'd been a pupil of Manor House School. I don't know when it became a residential care home but the last British Listing was in 1983, so it must have been some time before then. The Manor House (Seaton) Ltd, as it is now, was only registered in 2002 as a private company. However, it was probably an independent business previous to that. 

A fairly conventional 18th century frontage of three storeys with five bays containing tall sash windows on the ground and first floors, it nevertheless looks lovely with its old, faded, red brick and pretty front garden.

The central doorway is a delight with fluted pilasters and large rectangular fanlight with lead tracery. I especially like the door panel reveals.

At the rear is the original two storey part of the building, built with unrendered stone rubble and stone quoins surrounding the windows. It was quite a common thing at one time to build outwards at the front or even just add a new brick frontage to an older building, as it saved rebuilding from scratch and meant being able to keep up with current fashion without as much expense.

And lastly, a rather pretty and quirky arrangement of a painted 'walker' used to display a flower basket full of colourful summer plants.