Great Houndtor Farmhouse

Details

MANATON SX 77 NW 6/22 Great Houndtor Farmhouse. - 23.8.55 II* GV

Farmhouse. Probably early C17 (replacing earlier house in farmyard), underwent considerable modernisation in the mid C18, changing room use but leaving the basic plan intact. C18/early C19 outshuts added at rear. Granite rubble walls with larger quoins. 3 granite rubble chimneys, 2 projecting gable and 1 axial, all have drip-courses and shallow granite capping stones. Thatched roof, gabled at either end. Three room and through passage plan with hall fireplace backing onto passage and original heated inner room and lower room. Considerably modernised in C18 when lower room turned into parlour and dairy probably added as outshut behind hall. General refurbishment of house at this time included much good quality woodwork in the form of doors, shutters, window seats, cupboards and a fireplace. The middle staircase possibly dates from this time but might be slightly earlier. A second dairy outshut added probably in early C19. Asymmetrical 5-window south-east front consisting of 2- and 3-light early C20 casements with glazing bars in small openings with timber lintels. Through passage doorway to right of centre in C19 granite rubble gabled porch with stone seats either side. Very wide C19 panelled door to passage. Doorway to left of centre into former inner room has C19/C20 plank stable door and wooden lintel. Attached to house at left-hand south-west corner is a very small single-storey open-fronted building of granite rubble possibly once a pump-house as it contains a stone trough which discharges into a drain running down from the house. The 2 stone outshuts to the rear are either side of the cross passage. A small window to the right directly under the eaves lights the garret staircase and in the adjoining gable end a window lights the end garret bedroom. Interior: the only rooms substantially unaltered by the C18 modernisation is the former inner room which retains a heavily beamed ceiling of 2 cross beams chamfered but unstopped and a large open fireplace with a wooden lintel chamfered with worn scroll stops. The jamb to the left is monolithic granite, on the right it consists of several stones. A wooden newel staircase projects to the left of the fireplace and is probably not original but was inserted when as seems likely the room was relegated to kitchen status in the C18. The very large hall stack obviously conceals an early open fireplace. There are fielded panel shutters to the window and similar panelling to the window seat below. At the partition to the inner room, towards the rear wall a 2-fielded panel door with H-L hinges leads to a framed staircase which continues up to the garret. Another framed straight run staircase rises from the hall at the through passage side of the rear wall. The through passage has a cobbled floor with a distinctive design of 3 consecutive squares, the middle one containing a flower motif. The lower room has a small open fireplace with square cut wooden lintel. The C18 alterations here consisted of a cupboard next to the fireplace with a moulded architrave and dentilled cornice. It has a curved back and the shelves follow the same line, there are doors underneath and originally the top section also had doors. The shutters and window seat are as in the hall except the shutters are not fielded and there is a 6-fielded panel door. At the top of the straight run staircase are bannisters on the landing with very closely spaced elaborately turned balustrades and a newel of the same design with a small finial capping and flat handrail. The central bedroom over the hall has an C18 fireplace with reeded pilasters and dentilled cornice. There is also a fielded panel window seat. Several bedrooms have 2-fielded panel doors and good quality contemporary cupboards with H or H-L hinges. The roof is of a standard C18 type with straight principals and lapped and pegged collars. This farmhouse preserves an unspoilt traditional facade with the original ground floor plan relatively unchanged; in the C18 modernisation a fairly typical change of room use occured and much good quality joinery survives from this period.

Listing NGR: SX7492879565

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

84957

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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