The building was constructed as a family home, one among many English country houses for the Somerset gentry.

[1] Brentry House, which was commissioned by William Payne, a Bristol merchant, and designed by Humphry Repton and his son John was completed in 1802.

[2] The house was converted to become the main administration block for the Brentry Certified Inebriate Reformatory in 1898.

[5] After the hospital closed in 2000,[6] the main building was converted into residential apartments and became known as Repton Hall.

[1] The hospital site now forms a major component of the Brentry Conservation Area.