Apart from the church of St. Mary there is little stone used for building in Rolleston, apart from traces of stone in the plinths of early timber-framed houses. The sturdy timber-framed cottages of School Lane, Chapel Lane and Marston Lane have survived without coatings of later brick which give some other early buildings a more eighteenth century appearance. A combination of timber frame and brick infill can also be seen, and the steep tiled or slated roof lines which show that in the nineteenth century thatch was mostly replaced by materials more hygienic if less picturesque.

The typical Staffordshire red brick has in some cases been colour washed in traditional style, again originally for hygienic reasons, and even those houses which have reverted to the natural brick have traces of limewash in the corners of the herringbone line of bricks which tops the walls under the eaves. Many roofs are supported at the gable ends by brick corbels, which have been used as a style feature in modern as well as older buildings. Window treatments are generally flat casements, with small oblong panes, and are often topped by a shallow brick arch.

The dormers at the top of timber framed and three decker houses have full pitched roofs of tile or slate, and handsome doorcases with pediments and even pillars adorn cottages and larger houses, although large window or door openings are uncommon, for heat economy.

There is a wealth of Victorian and Edwardian 'Tudorbethan' building in Rolleston, with some fine examples on Church Road (built by the Mosleys) and Station Road. The pierced and decorated barge boards, terracotta string courses, tile features and roof finials, sash windows, timber framed gables, porches and stone quoins testify to the confidence of designers picking out features from an earlier age in the village, for example the Grammar School and the school house, and combining them with new materials and room layouts, setting them behind neat walls and hedges. Some of these houses also have their main entrances to the side, rather than imposingly on the front or street elevation, for example a fine pair of semidetached dwellings on South Hill which mix Edwardian half-timbering with rendering behind hedge-topped walls.