Chyverton House

Chyverton House is a country house dating from the early to mid-18th century, extended around the 1770s for John Thomas. The main building is constructed of brick laid in Flemish bond at the front with killas rubble at the rear, dressed with Pentewen stone. Dry Delabole slate covers the roofs: a hipped roof spans the house with brick stacks over the rear walls of the front rooms, while pyramidal roofs with central brick stacks crown the pavilions. Wooden modillioned cornices run along the eaves of the house, contrasting with the moulded cornices on the pavilions and the stone moulded cornices under parapets that were added in the 19th century.

The original plan consisted of an almost square double-depth house with two equal-sized front rooms. The circa 1770s extension introduced two pavilions set back from the main house, with their fronts linked to its rear wall by high screen walls. At a later date, a wing was constructed in front of the left-hand screen wall to connect the house to the left-hand pavilion. Between circa 1832 and 1850, the plan of the original house was substantially altered, a single-storey one-bay wing was added on the left, and the interior features were replaced with 19th-century classical-style elements.

The building stands two storeys over a basement with attics. The elevations remain virtually unaltered from the period of the extensions. The north-east front of the original house displays a 1:3:1-bay composition with central bays projecting forward and surmounted by a triangular pediment containing a central lunette. An ashlar plinth and rusticated quoins frame the façade. The original central doorway was fitted with a window in the 19th century. Early to mid-19th-century 12-pane hornless sash windows appear on this front and similar sashes light the other elevations. Pavilions are set back at either side, each presenting a symmetrical three-window south-east brick front with a central ground-floor window set within a recessed round arch. Both pavilions have ashlar plinths and rusticated quoins. The left and right elevations and rear elevations are of dressed coursed stone, otherwise matching the south-east fronts except that the central rear windows are not recessed. The left-hand wall of the left-hand pavilion contains blind windows except for a window at first-floor level on the left.

The rear of the original house forms a symmetrical four-window stone front with a central porch of early to mid-19th-century date. The porch features a central round-headed doorway flanked by round-headed windows, with a six-panel door and fanlight above. A 20th-century addition in similar style links the rear of the house to the left pavilion; on the right side stands an older hipped-roofed link building.

The interior has been largely remodelled between circa 1832 and 1850. A large stair hall contains an open-well stair with open string and cast-iron balustrade. A three-bay Tuscan colonnade divides the stair hall from an axial passage. Surviving 18th-century features include an iron fireplace in the left-hand front room, which was much admired by Sir John Betjeman during a visit, and a marble chimney-piece in the front right-hand room. The left-hand pavilion retains some original 18th-century features including the original stair. Good-quality early-18th-century oak panelling from Harlyn House in St Merryn parish was fitted to Chyverton during the 18th century and lines the left-hand room of the pavilion. The other pavilion was not inspected. The house displays good-quality neo-classical wall and ceiling plasterwork throughout the rooms inspected.