Oldhouse Farmhouse

Oldhouse Farmhouse

A former farmhouse of late 16th or early 17th-century date, situated on the north side of Philpots Lane in Hildenborough. The building underwent significant alterations around 1939. It is constructed with a timber frame, the ground floor largely underbuilt in brick and the first floor tile-hung, with a peg-tile roof and brick chimney stacks.

The house originally followed a three-room plan with a main range, lobby entrance positioned left of centre, and a crosswing to the right containing what was probably an unheated service room. A second unheated service room occupied a rear left wing at right angles to the main range. The two principal left-hand rooms, heated by back-to-back fireplaces in an axial stack, comprised a parlour to the left and a hall to the right. The original kitchen's location is uncertain; cooking may have taken place in the hall, though its high-quality fireplace suggests it held superior status, and the right-hand room—later altered and extended around 1939—may have been the original kitchen. Post-17th-century modifications include the addition of a stack to the rear left service wing, possibly during the 19th century, and a major 1939 phase when the house was extended at both ends of the main range and re-windowed. The two rear wings were linked by a rear outshut, above which on the first floor ran an axial passage contained within a flat-roofed projection. The extension of the right-hand room included a projecting end stack.

The building presents two storeys and an attic beneath a hipped roof at the ends of the main range and rear wings. The asymmetrical four-window front faces south-east, with the crosswing gable end positioned right of centre and flush with the main range front wall. A circa 1939 porch with hipped tiled roof, carried on reused and cut-down wall posts, shelters the lobby entrance. The windows are 1930s metalwork, comprising one-, two-, and three-light frames, with two attic dormers featuring hipped roofs. A second 1930s entrance on the right return provides access through a lean-to porch between the main range and rear right wing. Old photographs from the National Monument Record (1957) show that the stack shaft serving the rear left wing has since been truncated.

The interior preserves significant original features. The parlour retains a fine late 16th or early 17th-century moulded stone chimney-piece with a Tudor arched lintel and elaborately stopped jambs. Original carpentry includes a longitudinal beam and chamfered step-stopped joists. The room's 1930s extension to the left involved removal of the original left end wall. The hall likewise retains its original ceiling beam and exposed joists, with a fireplace featuring chamfered stone jambs and a moulded oak lintel, possibly reused. A void within the masonry of the axial stack, accessed by trap door from the first floor, serves an unknown function. Some brick patching suggests potential access from the hall fireplace, though no blackening is evident. The right-hand ground floor room in the crosswing displays plainer exposed carpentry. The circa 1939 extension may have involved removal of an original end stack and is marked by an open timber screen reusing old wall posts.

The chamber over the hall features a particularly fine moulded stone chimney-piece in surprisingly good condition, with a deep hollow moulding, Tudor arch, and rustic oak leaves and acorns carved in the spandrels. The chambers over both the hall and parlour preserve original ceiling carpentry with scroll stops. The chamber over the right-hand room has a raised ceiling, the original presumably removed when the 1930s stair was inserted. Both this room and the chamber over the hall contain remains of original unglazed windows in the front wall frame. A flight of late 16th or early 17th-century oak stairs above the lobby, dividing at the top, leads to the attic rooms. Exposed wall framing consists of large scantling with roughly-dressed jowls to the wall posts.

The roof of the main range is largely concealed behind attic lining but appears original, with rafters of large scantling including at least one blackened rafter, possibly reused from a former smoke bay. The crosswing features a side purlin roof with convex wind braces.

The house is reputed to have been the home of a bastard son of Sir Philip Sidney of Penshurst, according to information provided by the owner.

This is a traditional house of the region retaining much of its original carpentry and representing an important example of local building practice.