Ponderosa Post Office Cottage

Post Office Cottage and Ponderosa comprise two houses built as one farmhouse. The main range dates from the late 14th or around 1400, with a parlour cross-wing added in the late 16th century. The building is timber-framed and has roughcast rendering. It has a plaintiled roof with one gabled dormer window to the main range. A late 16th century axial chimney, constructed of red brick with three tall, diagonally-set square shafts, is located at the junction of the two ranges. There are various 19th and 20th century casement windows and a 20th century flush entrance door.

The two-storey, attic cross-wing has an oversailing gable tie-beam at both the front and back, featuring a running design carved in the late 16th century style. The front of the cross-wing has bargeboards with good vinescroll carving. The two-bay open hall probably retains many early features, though these were largely concealed during a previous survey. The open truss features a moulded cambered tie-beam with concealed arch braces, and an octagonal crownpost with a moulded capital and thick four-way braces. The construction exhibits high quality close-studding. A splayed and tabled scarf joint with an edge key in the rear wall plate demonstrates high quality carpentry and a 14th century construction date, indicating the early introduction of close-studding in central Suffolk. A first floor was inserted into the hall in the mid 16th century, featuring massive main beams with broach-stopped chamfers. A storeyed cell to the right was replaced by a 19th century lean-to extension. A separate lean-to extension to the left is not of special interest.