Merryfields

Merryfields is a house that originated as a 17th-century farmhouse, located on the site of an earlier structure. It was remodeled in the early 18th century, with 19th and 20th-century additions and alterations. The original timber frame has been replaced with red brick in Flemish bond during the early 18th century. The house features a thatched roof with decorative ridges and verges, coped gables on the main block, and a half-hipped wing at the rear. There is a hipped roof on the early 19th-century brick and cobb addition on the right-hand gable end wall. The building has two brick gable end stacks and one stack at the rear, along with an eyebrow dormer at the back.

The main block is two storeys with an attic, while the rear wing is a single storey with an attic, and the 19th-century addition is also a single storey. A large 20th-century glazed sunroom with a slate roof has been added to the rear of the main block at the junction with the rear wing, but this is not considered of special interest.

The front of the house has three bays, with an entrance doorway located off-center to the right. This doorway features a six-panelled door with glazed top panels and is sheltered by a 20th-century rustic timber porch. The front has a cement-rendered plinth, a raised two-course storey band, and an eaves cornice. On either side of the porch are flush three-light timber casements with leaded lights, both set under brick segmental arched heads. The first floor has three two-light timber-framed casements with leaded lights, and there is a two-light casement in the front wall of the addition to the right. The roof of the 19th-century addition extends over a verandah supported by three timber posts, and there is a 20th-century bay window at the rear.

The rear wing is made of brick painted white and features thin timber framing with brick noggin in the half gable. On the left-hand gable end wall of the main block, there is a single first-floor light casement to the left and a blocked attic window on either side of the stack. Inside, there is a central passage with a parallel stair on the left and an open stud partition on the right. Evidence of 17th-century framing can be seen, although it has been much altered. The rear wing has two bays with a stop-chamfered bridging beam and exposed joists, along with inglenook fireplaces.