Dane Farm House

Dane Farm House

A lobby-entry plan farmhouse of around 1600, with later alterations and additions.

The building is constructed of timber-framing with brick infill on the first floor and ragstone infill or over-cladding thought to be present on the ground floor. The first floor is now clad in dark-stained weather-board, and the ground floor is covered in white-painted pebble-dash. The roof is hipped and covered with clay tiles. The chimney stack is of brick construction with ragstone at the base, measuring over two metres in width on the ground floor. Windows are multi-light timber casements, predominantly of 21st-century date.

The building is three bays wide with its principal elevation facing east. The central bay contains the substantial chimney stack, with an entrance lobby to its front and a cupboard and small lobby to its back, in the likely position of the original stair. The two principal rooms at ground floor flank the stack. At first floor the rooms have been subdivided into two bedrooms and a bathroom to the north, and a bedroom and corridor to the south. To the rear is a single-storey 19th-century lean-to extension to the north, and a two-storey late 20th-century extension to the south. The late 20th-century extension does not form part of the listed building.

The principal elevation is broadly symmetrical, with three windows on the first floor and a window either side of the central door on the ground floor. The door is of plank and batten construction, hung on strap hinges, with a chunky cyma recta-moulded architrave likely dating from the 18th century or earlier.

The north and south elevations of the original house may have been blind; the single window now in each is known to be a later insertion. The rear elevation is largely masked by the 19th-century kitchen extension and the two-storey late 20th-century extension. On the north elevation and the north half of the east elevation, evidence shows that some of the timber frame has been cut away and presumably replaced with solid masonry. Although covered in pebble-dash, the plinth and some of the principal structural posts stand proud of the rest of the wall-face in these areas.

The two principal ground floor rooms flank the central stack and reflect the relative hierarchy of these spaces. Throughout the building, evidence of the original structure remains visible.

The ground floor room to the north has a particularly substantial triple-framed ceiling. A large ovolo-moulded transverse beam of approximately one foot in width spans the room from front to back, carrying two ovolo-moulded axial beams running from the end wall to the central stack. These carry joists which are chamfered with ogee stops. Some wall framing is exposed, though the room is generally finished with plaster displaying the undulating character of historic materials and workmanship. The fireplace opening has been altered and incorporates modern brickwork, but the straight timber lintel may be original. Plank doors either side give access to the lobby and to what is now a cupboard. A narrow stair of probable early 19th-century date, housed within a planked cupboard, occupies the northeast corner.

The room to the south has a more typical double-framed ceiling, comprising an axial beam spanning from the end wall to the central stack and supporting the floor joists. The beam has ovolo mouldings, but the joists are un-chamfered; the joists to the west were replaced when an 1897 stair was removed. The fireplace opening has been altered and incorporates modern brickwork but broadly accords with the width of the lintel. The opening is smaller than in the neighbouring room, and the lintel is shouldered and slightly curved. Holes in the face of the lintel may indicate the position of historic cooking apparatus. Plank doors either side give access to the main front lobby and to what is now a small rear lobby.

The single-storey 19th-century kitchen extension encloses part of the back wall of the original house. The ragstone plinth and timber floor plate is exposed, and a doorway with a worn brick step leads up into the principal room to the north.

The two first-floor rooms have been subdivided, but the structural timber framework is visible in many areas. This includes three of the four jowled posts forming the corners of the north bay, and wall-framing to the east suggesting the size of original window openings. The ceiling frame to the north is similar to that downstairs, with a transverse beam carrying a single ovolo-moulded axial beam. The transverse beam is chamfered with unusual stops comprising a cushion and a teardrop. The room to the south is now partly given over to a hallway running across what would have been the rear of the house. Only one jowled post is visible in this bay; two are known to have been lost. The rear of the house at first floor has been lost across the south and much of the central bay as a result of the late 20th-century extension.