Description:The east front of Chillington Hall was designed by Sir John Soane for Thomas Giffard in 1786-69.
The picture shows the entrance front with its double-storey portico. The columns are composed of huge drums of Tunstall stone of a creamy colour streaked with dark brown veins and have Ionic capitals designed after those of the Temple of Fortune in Rome. Soane intended that the walls of the house should be faced with stucco but the stucco facing was never applied. This explains why the bricks have a rough surface and the arching is visible above each window.
The Giffard family purchased the Chillington Estate in 1178, and have owned it ever since. In 1547 a new house was built by Sir John Gifford. This was demolished by 1724 and a new house begun in that year by Peter Giffard, designed by Francis Smith of Warwick. The house was greatly extended and remodelled by Thomas Giffard between 1786 and 1789 - his architect was Sir John Soane.