Local architect George Latham designed the house in a style which has become known as Jacobethan, copying elements of Elizabethan architecture.

By the mid-20th century, parts of the house were in poor condition and were demolished, to be replaced by five private homes in a matching architectural style.

Stockley Farm, part of the Arley estate, is an additional visitor attraction for children and families.

The original Arley Hall was constructed as a timber-framed building, and was surrounded by a square moat.

A three-storey south front was added in about 1570, making the house a complete square with a large internal courtyard.

In the 18th century the structure of the house was deteriorating, so in 1758 Sir Peter Warburton, 4th Baronet, completely encased the building in new brick walls.

In 1818 plans were drawn up by Lewis Wyatt to rebuild the west front in Neoclassical style, but these were not implemented.

Egerton-Warburton and Latham visited 16th-century houses and studied illustrations to ensure that the features were dated correctly to Queen Elizabeth's reign.

[9] Later in the century, parts of the south front were affected by dry rot and decay of the stonework; these were demolished in 1968, together with some of the servants' quarters, kitchens and offices, and notably the dining room on the site of the older Great Hall, to reduce maintenance costs.

However this was considered detrimental to the building's architectural integrity, so in 1987 the lost wings were replaced by five new houses, modelled on the style of the hall.

[11] Designed in an "L" shape, the house is built of red brick with blue diaper patterning and stone dressings under a slate roof.

The building has a segmented entrance ornamented by a coat of arms in the spandrels flanked by Ionic columns.

[12] The principal entrance was formerly through the porch on the south front, but its large doors caused too many draughts.

[15] The overmantel of the fireplace contains sculptures depicting St George slaying the dragon and, on each side, personifications of Hope and Patience, with appropriate inscriptions.

In the room is a virginal dated 1675 by Stephen Keene, and is one of the oldest surviving English keyboard instruments.

It contains watercolours by Piers Egerton-Warburton, including pictures of timber-framed buildings in Northwest England and views of Arley and Great Budworth.

[15] Leading back to the ground floor is the Small Staircase, with its balustrade of oak capped with mahogany.

[18] Rowland Egerton-Warburton, influenced by the Oxford Movement, decided to add a Gothic chapel to the north-east of the house, and commissioned Anthony Salvin for the design.

[20] Inside the chapel is a richly painted iron screen, which hides the central heating, and three corona-shaped chandeliers.

[24] In the 19th century Rowland and Mary Egerton-Warburton began to develop the area to the west of the house as pleasure gardens.

[30] The visitor approaches the hall and gardens along an avenue of pleached lime trees which are clipped each year.

Parkland lies on the southeast side of the path, and this is separated from the formal gardens by the ha-ha.

It contains a pond surrounded by statues of four heraldic beasts which were originally on the roof of the house.

[31] It is a timber framed building with brick infill on a stone plinth with a slate roof.

It dates from the 18th century and consists of a lead figure of a kneeling American Indian in a loincloth on a stone base with the dial on his head and a 20th-century gnomon.

This was built in the mid-19th century and was used by the family for afternoon tea and garden parties;[31] it now contains panels bearing verses, which were previously part of the tower above the south front of the main house (demolished in 1968).

[46] A variety of events take place in the hall and its grounds,[51] which, along with the Tudor Barn, are available for corporate or private hire.

[53] The Tudor Barn has been converted to a licensed restaurant, and a shop and plant nursery are nearby.

It appeared in the series Cluedo[57] as Arlington Grange and has doubled as Soames' house in The Forsyte Saga.

[60][61] In 2016, it appeared in the BBC television show Peaky Blinders, doubling as a house in Arrow, Warwickshire, the home of the main character, Thomas Shelby.