As I said I went to Cotehele ... it was started in 1458, although built around an earlier chapel, and used as a second home to a local family ... although it was their show-house, and hosted a Royal Visit in 1788. During WWII the primary home was destroyed during bombing, and about the same time the son of the family was killed in action. The house was then the primary home until the early 1950's when it was gifted to The National Trust as death duties.