[2] In 1837, Thomas Moule described the hall before Salvin's remodelling as "a spacious building with a Doric corridor on the entrance front".

They identify John Smith Barry's house with Belmont Hall, now a school, which stands adjacent to the Marbury estate.

[2] Pevsner compared the remodelled Marbury Hall with Wellington College, completed in 1859, describing it as "quite a document of architectural history".

[7] The architecture mixed Louis XIII pavilion roofs and French dormers with parts in the Queen Anne style; there were turrets and a dome.

[5] James Hugh Smith Barry, an avid collector of artwork and sculpture, brought numerous works of ancient Greek and Roman statuary back from Rome at a date variously given as 1766 or 1780.

[2][8] The 45 pieces included part of the Parthenon Frieze,[2][9] a greater than life size (81.5 inches (207 cm) high) Roman marble statue of Zeus,[2][10] a bust of Livia, described by Susan Walker of the British Museum as an "outstanding" portrait,[8] and marble busts of several Roman emperors, including Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus Pius, Lucius Verus and Septimius Severus.

[11] James Hugh Smith Barry also collected numerous paintings by Old Masters, including a self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck and Venus disarming Cupid by Parmigianino.

[2] Moule described the interior of the house in 1837: "the hall is filled with antique vases, statues, &c, and the saloon is embellished with many of the finest works of art, for which this seat is celebrated: the collection of pictures is chiefly of the Italian school".

[3] In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described the house as containing "a fine selection of paintings and antique sculptures".