Earlier Houses: There were probably earlier houses on, or near, the site of the current house.

House & Family History: Erected in the late 16th-early 17th century, Menabilly House was completely rebuilt between 1710 and 1715 for Jonathan Rashleigh III, whose family had been here since at least the 1580s. The house was the model for Manderley in Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca," published in 1938 (Milton Park, near Peterborough, was the basis for Manderley's interiors). Du Maurier (1907-89), the daughter of Sir Gerald du Maurier, was 19 when she first visited and fell in love with the wild beauty of Cornwall. She leased Menabilly and, together with her husband, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Browning, restored the great house, a task that became one of the passions of her life. Du Maurier rented Menabilly House from 1943 to 1969 and spent her last years (1969 until 1989), living in Kilmarth, the Menabilly Dower House, which is a mile from the big house. Du Maurier wrote 16 books while living at Menabilly, including the novels "The House on the Strand " (1969) and "My Cousin Rachel" (1951), and 1967's "Vanishing Cornwall: The Spirit and History of Cornwall."

Garden & Outbuildings: In 1873 the Rashleighs were largest landowners in Cornwall; their estate at Menabilly ("stone of colts" in Cornish) stretched to 30,156 acres, just under 4% of the total area of Cornwall.

John Bernard (J.B.) Burke, published under the title of A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, among other titles: 2.S. Vol. II, p. 149, 1855.

House Listed: Grade II*

Park Listed: Grade II

Current Seat / Home of: Sir Richard Harry Rashleigh, 6th Bt.; Rashleigh family here since the 16th century.

Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSES: John Rashleigh, until 1582. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: John Rashleigh, until 1624; Jonathan Rashleigh I, until 1675; Jonathan Rashleigh II, until 1702; Jonathan Rashleigh III, until 1764; Philip Rashleigh, until 1811; Sir John Colman Rashleigh, 1st Bt., until 1847; Sir Colman Rashleigh, 2nd Bt., 1847-96; Sir Colman Battie Rashleigh, 3rd Bt., 1896-1907; Sir Colman Battie Walpole Rashleigh, 4th Bt., 1907-51; Sir Harry Evelyn Battie Rashleigh, 5th Bt., 1951-84. Daphne du Maurier (tenant), 1943-69.

Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust

Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home

House Open to Public: No

Historic Houses Member: No