Treduan Farmhouse

Treduan Farmhouse is a substantial early 17th-century farmhouse, now converted to residential use. Built of slatestone rubble with a thatched roof, it has been substantially altered over the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The building is Grade II* listed.

The farmhouse follows a traditional 3-room and through-passage plan. The lower end room to the right is heated by an end stack and contains a stair from the first floor to attic level. The hall lies to the left of the passage and is heated by a front lateral stack, with the chamber above served by an axial stack to the left. Behind the hall stands a remarkable double stair tower, an unusual feature where two separate stairs are each entered through their own door, with a small closet room between them at both ground and first floor levels. This double stair appears to be original construction. The room to the left end is heated by a gable end stack. A 2-storey porch projects to the front of the passage. To the rear of the lower end room is a single-storey dairy outshut, unheated and probably dating to the later 17th century. The gable end to the left has an external stack with a rubble shaft and cornice; the axial stack to the left and end stack to the right both have brick shafts.

Externally, the farmhouse presents two storeys, though all windows are modern 20th-century casements. The 2-storey gabled porch features an outer doorway with a chamfered and scroll-stopped timber lintel, while the inner doorway has a similar lintel and an early 19th-century 4-panelled door. Benches sit to right and left of the inner door. The first floor of the porch contains a 2-light casement with timber lintel and three pigeon holes above. The right side has a small 2-light casement at first floor, formerly unglazed, with a chamfered frame and mullion together with iron stanchions. The lower end to the right displays a 12-pane light at ground floor and a 2-light casement at first floor, both with brick segmental heads. The hall, positioned to the left of the porch, has a small ground-floor window to the right—an 8-pane light with a timber lintel featuring scroll stops—and 2-light casements at ground and first floor to the left of the stack. The end room to the left has 2-light casements at ground and first floor, and a modern half-glazed door with timber lintel. The left end is rendered, with an external stack and buttresses, probably dating to the 19th century. The right end features a large buttress supporting the interior stair and two casements at first floor. Behind the lower end room is a single-storey unheated lean-to with an asbestos slate roof, formerly at a slightly higher level. The double stair tower forms a wide central rear projection; to the left is a recess beneath the stair treads with an unglazed 2-light casement at first floor featuring a wooden mullion and iron stanchions with a rough timber lintel, while to the right is a similar recess with single 20th-century lights lighting the closets and 20th-century doors to both recesses. The rear of the lower end has no windows.

Internally, the passage has a slate floor with chamfered beams and moulded cross joists. The front door has draw bar sockets and a chamfered lintel with scroll stops; the rear passage door is identical. The wall to the hall on the left is a timber stud partition, while a solid masonry wall separates the passage from the lower end room to the right. The lower end room has a fireplace to the end with a timber lintel and a cloam oven to the rear left, together with a domed granite-lined recess in the wall to the left of the fireplace. The doorway into this room features a wide 4-centred arched head, chamfered with run-out stops and a flat lintel with scroll stops, and retains an early 19th-century 4-panelled door with ventilation holes. The hall contains four chamfered and scroll-stopped cross beams. The small window beside the fireplace has a chamfered and scroll-stopped lintel. The fireplace to the front lateral stack has a flat chamfered granite lintel. In the rear wall are two doorways to the stairs, both with 4-centred arches chamfered with run-out stops, with lintels featuring scroll stops and fitted with early 19th-century 4-panelled doors with ventilation holes. A timber lintel in the middle of the rear wall, possibly from a former opening, later serves as a cupboard with one 18th-century shaped shelf surviving. At ground floor, the closet between the stairs has recesses in the wall to each side with slate cills. Both stairs are wide winders with stone treads; the stair lights have lintels with scroll stops. The inner room at the left end is reached by two steps up and has a 6-centred arched wooden doorway and six chamfered cross beams together with a coffin hatch. Its fireplace has a flat granite unchamfered lintel with rubble jambs and an oven to the rear right.

At first floor, a half-landing leads to the chamber over the porch, which has a 4-centred arched wooden doorway. The closet between the stairs has a doorway with a flat timber lintel chamfered with scroll stops and a 4-centred arch. The chamber over the hall has a fireplace to the axial stack with a flat chamfered granite lintel and jambs with pyramid stops, and a rear closet. The chamber at the left end was partitioned in the 20th century. The roof, not inspected, is reported to have been completely renewed at the time of thatching.

Structurally, the front and rear walls are of equal thickness. Evidence suggests that the front lateral stack and the rear double stair tower may be additions to the original building, though the double stair tower itself appears to be all of one build. At first floor, a heavy timber wall plate beside the stair to the rear left may indicate alterations made when the stair tower was constructed. The first floor fireplace over the hall appears to be a later addition of the later 17th century. The internal architectural features are of notably high quality.