Trereife House (pronounced Treeve) is a

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

located west of the town of

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, UK. The house was built in the 18th century and has two storeys and a

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

with

dormer windows A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

. Today the house is open for day visitors and also offers bed and breakfast rooms.

History

The first occupants of Trereife were the Nicholls family. Originally a farming family living in the farmhouse at Trereife, they assumed the role of minor gentry after gradually increasing the amount of land they owned over a period of time. John Nicholls, after working as a barrister at the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

in London, arranged for a Queen Anne style facade to be added to the original farmhouse. This was completed in 1708. The house eventually came into the hands of the Le Grice family. Charles Valentine Le Grice (14 February 1773 – 24 December 1858) became the first member of the family to live there when he came to Cornwall in 1796 as the tutor to William John Godolphin (died 1815). William was the son of Mary Nicholls (née Usticke) a wealthy widow and John William Nicholls (deceased). In 1799 Le Grice married Mary Nicholls and they had a son Day Perry (1800 – 19 March 1881). On the death of his wife in 1846, Charles Valentine Le Grice inherited the estate and became a wealthy man. Day Perry Le Grice was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

and had two children. His first was a daughter, and second born, a son Charles Day Nicholls Le Grice who inherited the estate in 1881. Day Perry was a Deputy Lieutenant and in 1864

High Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, ot ...

. In 2011, Trereife House was the subject of a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television documentary presented by hotelier

Ruth Watson Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...

as part of her ''

Country House Rescue ''Country House Rescue'' is an observational documentary series which airs on British terrestrial television channel, Channel 4. The series has also aired on BBC Canada, ABC1 in Australia and Living in New Zealand and in South Africa. In each ep ...

'' series. A string of failed business attempts at the house had left it with debts of £100,000, but the situation was turned around by the programme. Its single B&B room prior to the arrival of the film crew was criticised for being poorly maintained and having dated decor. This was upgraded and further rooms were added, and the house began hosting weddings and public events.

References

External links

{{Portal, Cornwall
Trereife House homepage
Country houses in Cornwall Grade II listed buildings in Cornwall Buildings and structures in Penzance