Antony House

Antony House stands beside the River Lynher between Torpoint and Antony in Cornwall. Built between 1718 and 1724 for Sir William Carew, it remains the family home of the Carews, who have owned the estate since the mid-16th century. The house is faced in silvery-grey Pentewan stone with brick colonnades and overlooks the river. In 1961 Sir John Carew Pole gifted the house and 29 acres of gardens to the National Trust while keeping the contents and a lifetime right to live there. His grandson Sir Tremayne Carew Pole and his wife still reside on the estate today. The house holds fine collections of portraits and furnishings. A portrait of Charles I at his trial hangs among works by Sir Joshua Reynolds, including one thought to have inspired Daphne du Maurier’s novel My Cousin Rachel. Rooms are panelled in Dutch oak and furnished with 18th-century textiles. The grounds were designed by Humphry Repton and include formal gardens, yew hedges, topiary and a wide range of sculptures. A tall yew cone stands almost as high as the house, echoed by William Pye’s Antony Cone water sculpture. The wider estate features a 60-acre woodland garden noted for rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and magnolias. It is recognised by the International Camelia Society as a Garden of Excellence. Walks lead down to the River Lynher and past an 18th-century Bath House. The grounds have also served as film locations, including Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland.