Harlyn House

Harlyn House is a substantially built dwelling of complex and layered development spanning from the 17th century through to the early 19th century. The house stands at St Merryn, Harlyn.

The building is constructed of coursed local slate rubble with slate dressings, and features stone rubble axial and gable end stacks.

The existing plan is approximately T-shaped. The main double-depth front range is four rooms wide; the right-hand end room extends the full depth, while the left-hand end room has a small library partitioned off at the back. The two shallower central rooms—the hall to the left and dining room to the right—have behind them a stairhall to the left and a back entrance hall with passageway to the right. The back wing incorporates a cross-wing at its end and a small block further back.

Although some fabric may derive from a Medieval house on this site (possibly associated with the Treggoye or Tregrew family), the earliest reliably dateable features are 17th-century. These include carpentry and plasterwork in the rear wing, with dated plasterwork of 1635 and a datestone of 1634 on the exterior. This work is attributed to Thomas Peter, who rebuilt the earlier house. The 17th-century roof over the rear wing and its cross-wing survives, showing closely-spaced principal rafters with threaded purlins, threaded ridgepiece, and notched lap-jointed collars halved and pegged onto the principals.

In the 18th century, the rear wing was reduced to service status while the main front range was either newly built or drastically remodelled and largely rebuilt. In style it appears early 18th-century (evident in the facade, the panelled library with moulded cornices on the first floor, and the roof structure); however, a contemporary account from 1820 states that "a great part of the old buildings was taken down about 40 years ago and the remainder has been modernised", suggesting the work might date to circa 1780. A datestone of 1798 at the back probably marks intermediate alterations and an addition west of the rear cross-wing, rather than the major remodelling that clearly occurred earlier in the 18th century.

The house was remodelled again around 1820, including a roof-truss dated 1821 above the principal staircase, which was created at this time. This work was executed in Gothic style and encompassed the remodelling of the principal rooms in the front range, though the exterior remained largely unaltered from its 18th-century form.

The exterior is of two storeys. The east front is symmetrical with a 2:3:2 bay arrangement, featuring a parapet, cornice, and a forward-breaking pediment over the central three bays. Tall narrow window openings have flat-dressed stone arches and 8-pane sashes, which appear to have replaced earlier sashes with thicker glazing bars. A Venetian window occupies the first floor centre, with a slate cornice and round-headed central light. The central doorway is set in a raised surround with a rectangular overlight and a late 19th or 20th-century panelled door. The right-hand (north) elevation displays an asymmetrical arrangement of early 19th-century sashes with intact glazing bars; the first-floor windows feature two-centred arches and intersecting glazing bars. On the north side stands a reused Medieval two-centred moulded arch doorway, possibly from the ruined Constantine church. The south elevation of the rear wing contains various 19th or early 20th-century casements with glazing bars and an early 19th-century 12-pane sash. At the rear of the front (east) range are circa 1820 two-light Gothic stone mullion windows with hoodmoulds and sashes featuring Gothic glazing bars, alongside a moulded four-centred arch doorway with hoodmould. A large circa 1820 wooden lantern, octagonal in plan with Gothic glazing, rises above the roof at the back of the front range.

Interior features are extensive. The hall contains a Victorian plaster ceiling and an imported carved wooden overmantel dated 1650. The left-hand (drawing) room is fitted with Gothick joinery, a plaster ceiling, and a 19th-century marble chimneypiece. A circa 1820 Gothick open-well staircase with cast-iron balustrade occupies the stairhall, which also features a Gothick niche with canopy. The stairhall and landing are vaulted in Gothick plaster, with a large octagonal lantern above the stair. The library retains 18th-century fielded panelling with giant fluted pilasters and a dentilled cornice. The dining room (right-hand front) displays a 19th-century Gothick plaster ceiling, a four-centred arch at one end, and a black marble chimneypiece. The bedchambers contain 18th-century joinery including period chimneypieces and grates; the left-hand room features fielded panelling, a coved ceiling, and an 18th-century marble chimneypiece with an iron grate, while the left-hand rear room has a circa 1820 coved ceiling with moulded cornice, marble chimneypiece with Tuscan columns, and grate.

The rear wing contains sections of 17th-century moulded plaster friezes decorated with sea-serpents, a 17th-century moulded and panelled door, and a blocked doorway with an ovolo-moulded frame featuring elaborate carved stops. The 17th-century back staircase has a closed string with an intermediate moulded rail, moulded balusters below and moulded muntins above, and a moulded handrail; the square newels carry acorn finials. The ground floor room of the rear cross-wing displays closely-spaced unchamfered ceiling beams and a plaster frieze with fleur-de-lis and roses motifs, with a dated plaster inscription of 1635 over the fireplace. A massive moulded wooden doorframe inside the rear porch features carved stops. The roof over the front range has principal rafters with morticed apexes and pairs of collars lapped and pegged to the face of the principals.