The house was ruined by fire after World War II, but was restored and converted into apartments in the late 1990s by Kit Martin.

In 1798, after the death of James Modyford Heywood, the house and estate were bought by the Jamaican-born Manasseh Masseh Lopes, the son of a rich plantation owner, whose family later gained the title of Baron Roborough.

The Lopes remained seated at Maristow until 1938, after which the house served a variety of purposes: a servicemen's hospital during World War II; a retirement home for clergy; a residential school, and a field-study centre.

The wings project forwards from the west front, the three-storey porch being in the centre of the facade.

The ground floor room in the north-eastern corner of the house has 18th century moulded panelling, a moulded plaster ceiling, overdoors with segmental open pediments, a fireplace with eared architraves, and an overmantel carved with wooden festoons.