Jacobs Farmhouse

Jacobs Farmhouse is a timber-framed and plastered farmhouse with plain tile roofs, dating to the late 15th century and mid 16th century. It is situated in Maldon, Essex. Originally a hall house, it features a two-storey cross-wing at the south-east end.

The front of the cross-wing is gabled, displaying a 12-pane sash window on the first floor and a 3-light casement window with small panes on the ground floor. A single-storey lean-to on the exposed side of the cross-wing has a 3-light casement window. The main hall range has a 17th-century stack projecting through the front roof slope, a 17th-century gabled dormer with a leaded-light window and two roof lights. A 20th-century gabled porch with exposed timbers and double doors sits on the ground floor. Two 20th-century oriels with gables and leaded lights are also present. The north-west end exhibits a hipped roof with a gablet, exposed framing on the first floor above a rendered ground floor, a narrow stack, a 2-light casement on the first floor, and a single-light casement with top ventilators on the ground floor. The rear of the cross-wing has a hipped roof with a gablet, a 12-pane sash window with a moulded surround on the first floor, and a 12-pane horizontal-sliding casement window and a small window on the ground floor. The lean-to has black boarding on its rear face and a black weatherboarded 20th-century porch with a hipped plain tile roof. The rear of the hall range demonstrates a 17th-century gabled dormer featuring pargeting with scallop and sun motifs, reminiscent of Saffron Walden and north-west Essex, along with a flat-roofed dormer with small panes. Other rear features include two 12-pane horizontal-sliding casement windows and a low-pitched gabled porch with small-paned casements. A dormer window over the south-east lean-to was under construction at the time of survey.

The interior retains substantial elements of the original small, in-line hall house, likely from the late 15th century. It originally comprised a combined service/parlour chamber at the north-west end and a solar above, constructed with interrupted tie-beam construction. Remnants of a crown-post roof remain, including a central hall crown post with an octagonal shaft, crenellated and moulded capital, and two-way rising braces. The parlour/solar partition is largely complete, featuring arch bracing and one of two arched door heads. Chamfered and stopped floor joists are found over the parlour. The unjettied cross-wing was added in the mid to late 16th century and initially included a large stairwell and diamond-mullioned windows, some of which survive. This served as a new service wing, and the former high-end room was converted into a larger parlour. A late 19th-century pump is situated in front of the front wall of the cross-wing.