The estate has been the home since the fifteenth century of the Carew family, the house being originally built in 1724 for Sir William Carew. The garden, and particularly its landscaping, was greatly influenced by Humphry Repton, who was consulted by Reginald Pole-Carew in 1792, though Reginald had begun the extensive planting of ornamental trees several years before. The terrace, Holm Oaks and circular dovecote though date from some 30 years earlier. Generations of the family extended the garden in the Victorian and Edwardian eras by creating formal walks, terraces and gardens. General Sir Reginald Pole-Carew contributed the magnificent Mandalay Bell which he brought back as booty from the Second Burmese War in 1886. This tradition of enhancing the garden was continued by the late Sir John Carew-Pole, who planted the Japanese garden and woodlands, and by Mrs. Richard Carew-Pole, the wife of the present head of the family, who began the enclosed knot summer garden in 1983. Sir Richard, who is now the President of the Royal Horticultural Society, recently erected a standing stone of Cornish granite on top of Jupiter Hill in memory of his parents.