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The eccentric three-storey octagon property was the pride of the Parminter sisters. They began work here from the late 1790s after their Grand Tour. They were particularly influenced by Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore. Curios, shell collections, mosaics feature throughout the house, with the top shell gallery featuring birds’ feathers, intricate, coloured decoration and considerable shell work, notably in cornices and panelling.
Endsleigh House (1814) is the last Repton landscaped garden and sits north of Tavistock overlooking the Tamar. It features a Grade 1 listed, hexagonal shell house in a ravine landscape.
Since 1976 Dr John Marshton has landscaped a picturesque garden that includes a Temple to Pan, Turkish Tent and Shell House. He designed the Italianate structure and shell patterns using many local types from Croyde.
The Shell House seems to date from c1817. The unusual monopitch structure is still intact but the interior stalactites are in a ruinous condition.