Cutmadoc Farmhouse

Cutmadoc Farmhouse, now two houses

This is a farmhouse dating from the early to mid-17th century, with additions from the late 17th century and further additions probably from around the 19th century. It was divided into two separate houses around the mid-19th century, with few alterations made subsequently. The building is constructed of slatestone and granite rubble with granite dressings, partly rendered. It has a slate roof with ridge tiles and gable ends, with one slightly crested hand-made ridge tile surviving. Gable end stacks with rubble shafts provide heating.

The original plan follows a 2-room and through passage arrangement. The hall occupies the left side, heated from a gable end stack, while the lower end sits to the right, also heated from a gable end stack. A parlour wing of single-room plan was added to the front of the lower end in the late 17th century, with its own gable end stack for heating. Probably in the early 19th century, a small unheated addition was constructed at the rear of the lower end to serve as a dairy. When the house was divided, likely in the late 19th century, a door was inserted in the front of the lower end room and a straight stair was inserted in the front of the lower end room; this section, together with the parlour wing, became a separate house. In the upper end, a room was inserted in the rear of the passage, and a single-storey addition was made to the rear of the hall, heated from a gable end stack.

Externally, the building presents as 2 storeys with an asymmetrical 3-window front. The parlour wing projects to the front right. The passage doorway has a chamfered granite surround with a segmental arch and a 20th-century plank door. To the left is a 20th-century single chamfered granite light and a 2-light chamfered granite window with casements. To the right is a plank door with glazed panel and pitched hood, leading into the lower end room. A 2-storey gabled wing stands to the right; the gable end features a large 2-light chamfered granite mullion and transom window which is blind, with the stack rising above. The inner side of the wing has a 3-light chamfered granite window with casements at ground floor and a 2-light 20th-century window at first floor. The dairy is a lean-to structure with a plank door and single light. The rear of the upper end has a 2-light 20th-century casement at ground floor with chamfered granite lintel remaining, and a 2-light 20th-century window at first floor. The rear kitchen wing is single storey with a hipped roof at its junction to the main range and a gable end stack with brick shaft.

The interior of the lower end room to the right is ceiled. The stair runs along the front of the room, and one chamfered ceiling beam remains. A very large fireplace at the gable end features a straight chamfered lintel and jambs, reduced in size for the insertion of a range. The windows are hollow-chamfered on the inside. The rear dairy has a slate shelf. In the front wing, a 19th-century cast iron grate occupies the gable end fireplace. The foot of one roughly hewn beam is visible at first floor; the roof was not inspected. The upper end room has 19th-century ceiling beams. A 4-pane sash window sits at the left side of the kitchen wing, with a door at the right side.

The gable end of the front wing, with its blind window, is an unusual architectural treatment for a farmhouse of this date, as it provides visual interest to what would otherwise have been a blank wall.