Stanford Farm House

Stanford Farm House is an early 17th-century timber-framed house, formerly a farmhouse and later converted into two cottages, which has been restored and extended in the 20th century. The building is located in Ash Road, Pirbright.

The original structure was a two-bay end chimneystack house with timber framing visible in the north-west gable and two gables to the south-east. In the early 18th century, the timber framing in these areas was infilled with brown brick, and the remainder of the building was refronted in brick laid in Flemish bond with a stringcourse and plinth with moulded edge. The lower parts of the north-east, west, and south fronts retain some sandstone with galleting. The roof is plain-tiled, gabled to the north and hipped to the south, with an original external chimneystack to the north and a 20th-century chimneystack to the south-west.

The north-west elevation features an outstanding early 17th-century external brick chimneystack that is crow-stepped near its top on the eastern side, with sandstone rubble and galleting to its base. Small fixed casement windows with wooden surrounds and leaded lights are positioned nearby. The west side, which was originally the entrance front, has two wooden casements on the first floor and four on the ground floor; the two outer windows were inserted in the early 20th century to replace doorcases, though the original thresholds remain visible. The south-west front, now the principal entrance, features a 20th-century oak arched and ribbed door with a cambered casement to the ground floor. The south-east and west sides display Flemish bond brickwork matching the rest of the house, though a narrower 17th-century gable adjoins, which is timber-framed with exposed collar beams, purlins, and diagonal braces with brick infill. A bricked-in doorcase in stretcher bond brickwork appears on the ground floor of this gable. Windows throughout are mainly early 20th-century wooden casements in original openings with gauged brick heads.

A south-west extension was added in the 1920s, and a north-west kitchen wing was built in the 1930s. Both additions are constructed of brick with tiled roofs, matching the original materials.

Internally, the hall contains 18th-century brick paving, a reused ceiling beam, an early 20th-century oak cupboard with metal butterfly hinges, and an early 20th-century oak winder staircase with a matching oak cupboard beneath. The north-western room features a wide open fireplace with a wooden bressumer with brackets, brick end piers, and a wooden gun-rack above; the brick firehood is early 20th-century. The room retains a chamfered axial beam with lambstongue stop and square floor joists, a pegged-in partition wall to the south with a midrail, and some original elements to the eastern wall. The north-east room contains a 17th-century chamfered spine beam that is not pegged-in, and a north wall with some framing below a reused midrail. The brick fireplace here dates from the Inter-War period. The upper floor has heightened ceilings, though some framing appears to be 18th-century with diagonal windbraces. The roof structure includes purlins, curved windbraces, and some original rafters; sections of the roof have been cut out for later additions.

Stanford Farm House is recorded on the First Edition Ordnance Survey maps, with no significant changes shown by the 1891 and 1912 editions. The building retains a substantial proportion of its 17th and 18th-century fabric, and its plan form remains readable from both the exterior and interior. The quality of the external chimneystack and early 18th-century brickwork, combined with surviving internal features such as the open fireplace and ceiling beams, make this a significant example of its type.