Dating from 1688, the house was home to many generations of Blackett and Trevelyan families, who all left their mark. The restrained Palladian exterior gives way to the magnificent rococo plasterwork of the interior, which houses fine ceramics, paintings, needlework and a collection of dolls' houses. The Central Hall was decorated to look like an Italian courtyard, heavily influenced by Pre-Raphaelites, with series of scenes of Northumbrian history by William Bell Scott. The original formality of Sir Walter Blackett's 18th-century landscape, influenced by 'Capability' Brown, who went to school in the estates village, underlies the present surroundings.