The house stands at the foot of the great limestone ridge that runs northwards through Lincolnshire, lined all the way with fine houses. In earlier times it was a seat of the great Hussey family, who owned several houses in the area and are commemorated in the nearby village church. Caythorpe Hall was built in 1824-27 for a Colonel G.H. Packe. He used an accomplished Leicester architect called William Parsons, who was active as a road builder and a railway architect. Caythorpe is his most important work, along with those archetypes of Georgian rectitude, the county jail and lunatic asylum.

The entrance front is faced in warm local Ancaster stone, more biscuity in colour than Portland. Parsons showed off his knowledge of Ancient Greek architecture, by then more fashionable than Roman, in the pretty entrance porch. Here the scrolls at the top of the Ionic columns at the corners bend outwards, following best archaeological precedent. By 1800 owners had become tired of negotiating grand flights of outside steps up to a front door — they could be treacherously icy in winter — and at Caythorpe there are just three shallow steps.

The east-facing garden front is also extremely refined, faced in the same blemishless stone with the shallowest of bows in the centre and long Regency windows descending to floor level. The sash in the bow is cleverly designed, so when it is raised you can walk straight into the garden without ducking your head. In place of the usual solid wall below the window, wooden shutters fold back to make a doorway. The trick was that it still looks like a window with the slender glazing bars typical of the age.

The paired front doors open into a slightly cramped entrance hall with a fireplace set oddly in the corner, but this is forgotten as you approach one of the finest staircases you can ever hope to see in a house of this size. The doors, unusually, are swing doors covered in faded baize, as if Colonel Packe, thirsty from a day’s hunting, was damned if he was going to fiddle with any door handles as he strode in for a warming toddy by the fire.

The stone stair ascends elegantly in three flights with an iron balustrade as intricately detailed as the ornament on a Greek vase. Setting aside the fact that the smooth handrail is a near-irresistible temptation for children to slide down, this is a stair begging for young ladies in high-waisted Empire dresses and puffed sleeves to make the grand descent at a ball. Landing and arched galleries are perfectly placed to survey the throng below. A neat detail on the stair is the pretty chain slung below the handrail. Above, instead of the more usual dome, is a sidelit roof light with bands of ornament so crisp that they might be porcelain. To the right of the hall is a suite of three interlinking reception rooms — all with airy Regency proportions and Grecian detail around the ceilings, a frieze of the palmettes known as acroteria and a band with a wave motif above.

The fireplace in the drawing room is of flawless white Carrara marble, that in the bowed morning room is in contrasting black-veined marble. The dining room still has the traditional arrangement of both large and small dining tables.

The bedrooms are equally well proportioned, though I would be tempted to open a blank window in the main bedroom to give it fine views looking south as well as east. This is a house for large family gatherings or house parties. Depending on how you count, there are up to ten bedrooms on the first floor and a further ten in the attic. The attic ones were originally for servants; unusually every one has a neat little marble fireplace waiting to be brought back into use by a new chatelaine determined that every part of the house should look fresh and smart.

At present the back part of the house is let separately and the laundry across the stable yard has been sold with the walled garden behind. Rodney Vigne, of the estate agent Strutt & Parker, explains: “As well as the 18 acres which come with the house, there is a possibility of buying back some 90 acres of parkland, probably at a slight premium on the current £3,000 an acre that arable fetches.” The stable and coach block has a handsome arched centre.

Caythorpe also calls for a new owner who enjoys his wine and has plans to lay down vintages. Beneath the house is a series of very well-built brick cellars with shallow Regency vaults with extensive wine bins. Two of those cellars have vaults supported on central pillars in almost monastic manner and are ideal for parties or suppers. Here an interesting detail of domestic archaeology is the small stove that heated the hall above. The brass vent for hot air survives in the hall floor. Another survivor is a traditional thunder box with the loo concealed beneath a polished oak bench complete with inset plunge handle.

And if you are into provisions, there is a larder on the north front with a full dozen hooks in the ceiling waiting for hams to be cured.

Caythorpe Hall is for sale for £2 million via Strutt & Parker, 01858 433123, and Humberts, 01476 514500

FACT FILE

WHAT YOU GET: Seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, extensive attics and cellars, coach house, seven stables. Total of 14,593 sq ft and 18 acres of grounds.

WHERE IT IS: Grantham 8 miles (trains to King’s Cross 75 min); Newark 12 miles. SCHOOLS: King’s School, Grantham, and Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School (Margaret Thatcher’s old school), Oundle School, Uppingham School.

WHERE TO EAT: Harry’s Place, near Grantham, and Olive Branch, Clipsham.

PERFECT FOR: Horse-lover planning to lay down some fine wines.

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