Pear Tree Cottage

Pear Tree Cottage is a farmhouse that likely dates from the late 17th century, with parts rebuilt in the 18th century, altered in the 19th century, and incorporating materials from the 16th century. The front elevation features red and grey brick laid in Flemish bond, while the right return displays a mix of header bond and Flemish bond. The rear and left return are constructed of older red and grey brick in a mixed bond, except for the upper part of the first floor, which has an interrupted Flemish bond. The roof is covered with plain tiles and has a central-entry plan with double depth. The building has two storeys, an attic, and a semi-cellar, with a low flint plinth and a dentilled brick eaves cornice on each elevation. The steeply-pitched hipped roof has hips that return to the rear. There is a projecting brick stack with a flint base panel towards the front of the right return, and a truncated projecting brick stack towards the front of the left return. The front has a regular three-window arrangement with two pairs of four-pane sashes in open boxes and a central two-light casement. The ground floor features similar sashes with segmental heads. A central doorway, which is blocked, is located at the left end of the longer right room. The rear elevation includes one three-light and one single-light casement on the first floor, with segmental heads on the ground-floor casements, and a central boarded door with a segmental head.

Inside, the front right ground floor room has a chamfered cross beam, bevelled joists, and a brick fireplace with niches and a chamfered bressumer. The rear right room features a chamfered axial beam and a fireplace with a high bressumer. The interior also has plank doors and a U-plan roof with staggered butt purlins in short lengths, re-using rafters from a lapped-collar roof. Short lengths of 16th-century moulded beams have been re-used in the cellar. The property was formerly known as North Elham Dairy, where milk and dairy produce were dispensed from a small adjacent single-storey outbuilding.