The present building, containing 81 rooms,[3] combines the traditional E-shape of Elizabethan architecture with the 18th-century exuberance of Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill Gothic.

[5] Having foreseen King Henry VIII's intention to dissolve religious houses, Prior Thomas Mundy, a son of Sir John Mundy (died 1537) Lord Mayor of London in 1522, made plans to place the assets of his priory beyond the king's reach, which he did by granting to his friends and relations at nominal ground-rents long leases of the priory's possessions.

[6][7] By tradition it is said that the Prideaux family viewed their obtaining of the estate at a favourable price as compensation for "an unpleasant wife",[6] namely the prior's niece.

[citation needed] In 2006 the BBC filmed the Antiques Roadshow at Prideaux Place, hosted by Michael Aspel, which was broadcast as episodes seven and eight of Series 29.

[citation needed] Prideaux Place has been used in numerous German-language television films based on novels by Rosamunde Pilcher[20] and was featured in an episode of Quest TV's 'Salvage Hunters'.