Gear Farmhouse And Garden Wall To Front

Farmhouse. Dating from the 18th century, with extensions added around the late 19th century. The farmhouse is constructed of painted rubble with dressed granite quoins and jambs, featuring wooden lintels over the original section and granite lintels on the 19th-century addition. The roofs are covered in scantle slate, with some areas grouted and others slurried, and include 18th-century or earlier handmade crested ridge tiles on the original section. Tall brick chimneys are present over the original hipped sidewall, and brick chimneys rise from the gable ends of the 19th-century extension and the rear wing.

Originally designed with a T-shaped plan, it comprised two rooms – a hall/kitchen to the left and a parlour to the right – connected by a cross passage leading to a stair projection at the rear. A cob-walled pantry outshut, with a chamber partly in the roof space above, is located behind the parlour and likely dates to the 18th century. A slightly taller wing was added to the right of the parlour around the late 19th century, along with a service wing at a right angle to the rear, potentially serving as an apple store.

The south-west front, approximately four windows wide, originally presented a symmetrical two-window 18th-century facade with a central doorway on the left. A taller, regular two-window 19th-century addition is positioned to the right. The original 18th-century section has circa early 19th-century 16-pane hornless sash windows on the first floor, with 20th-century casements on the ground floor. One window opening has been widened in the 20th century, and the doorway has a 20th-century open gabled porch. The 19th-century front has original 4-pane horned sashes. The rear of the farmhouse has seen little alteration and retains original sashes and casements.

Inside, some 18th-century features remain, including bowtell moulded beams in the kitchen, a closed-string dog leg stair with boarded balusters, some original panelling adjoining the stair, and 3-panel doors. Circa early 19th-century flush beaded panelling is found on the left side of the passage, while a simple pine muntin and plank partition on the right is dated 1894.

A rubble wall surrounds a shallow rectangular garden to the front. A pair of granite gate piers stand in front of the doorway. The farmhouse has remained largely unaltered since the 19th century, with the rear elevation being as attractive as the front.