After repair by architect Alfred Hoare Powell (1865–1960), it was acquired by the National Trust in 1907, on the recommendation of the antiquarian Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley (1851–1920).

In the 1920s the house was renovated after Colonel Lyle and his wife 'Ronnie' agreed to take on a ninety-nine year repairing lease from the Trust, and work began in 1921.

The house was originally surrounded by a medieval deer park and in the 17th century a formal garden was constructed.

[8] The house was forfeit to the crown and then had various owners including Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who in 1552 sold it to William Clifton, a London merchant who had been assembling a Somerset estate.

[8] The interior of the house suffered from its demotion to a tenant farm and from a fire in the early 19th century; after being almost derelict it was repaired under the supervision of Alfred Hoare Powell.

[12] Stuart Interiors left Barrington Court in December 2008, and although the building has no furniture, it is open to visitors.

The south front has seven gables supported by octagonal buttresses[6] and decorated with twisted finials with ogee scale-work caps and English Crockets.

[8] The stables – built in 1674 by William Strode III – were converted into a separate house around 1920, under plans drawn up by the architect J.E.

The gateway to the west of the forecourt was rebuilt in the 1920s with tall piers and moulded stepped caps, permitting a full view of the symmetrical facade of the house.

In the 1550s William Clifton took action, in the Star Chamber court, against local poachers who hunted deer in the park while he was away.

[30] The kitchen garden provides produce for the property's restaurant located in the adjacent Strode House; this includes many types of fruit and vegetables.

The local St Mary & St Peter's CE VC Primary School, which has bases at Barrington and Ilton, has a vegetable plot where the children plant, tend and cook the produce; the walls are also strewn with apple, pear and plum trees.

[33] Author Andrew Norman has argued that Barrington Court was the inspiration for 'Kellynch Hall' in Jane Austen's Persuasion.

[34] In 2014 it was the site of filming for the BBC's Tudor-era historical TV serial Wolf Hall.