39 Fore Street

The building at 39 Fore Street is a roughly square structure, likely dating to the 18th century. It is constructed of granite rubble, with some areas colour washed or rendered, and covered by a slate hipped roof.

The front elevation (south side) is two storeys high, while the rear (north side) rises to three storeys. A central door is positioned on the front elevation, flanked by modern single-light windows, with a large rectangular window above it on the first floor. A further entrance is situated on the left side. The west elevation slopes downwards towards the south, following the line of the pier's slipway, and features two long, rectangular 20th-century metal frame casement windows on the ground floor and two smaller 20th-century picture windows on the first floor. A timber door, topped by a large granite lintel, allows access directly from the slipway into the cellar. A single-storey lean-to, significantly repaired in the 20th century using concrete breeze blocks, is also present. A late 20th-century plaque commemorates the historical research of local historian Bill Best-Harris (1914-1987). The rear harbour elevation rises straight from the sea, supported by a substantial granite wall, which reinforces the building’s foundations. The cellar windows are timber sashes. The ground-floor windows are 20th-century replacements. The first floor has a run of 20th-century uPVC casement windows extending along the length of the building and around to the east side. The east elevation is partially obscured by a modern ground-floor kitchen extension, however.

The interior is largely of late 20th and early 21st-century date. The entrance leads to a small hallway with a water closet and a storage room on either side, before opening into a large open-plan living space. A modern kitchen extension and access corridor are attached to the east side of the ground floor. A 21st-century dog-leg pine staircase is located in the southwest corner of the property. The lower ground floor consists of a bedroom and a large, open-plan storage cellar, with granite steps leading to an external door on the slipway side. The first floor contains a bedroom and bathroom above the front of the house, and a further large open-plan living space above the rear. Exposed A-frame roof timbers are visible, consisting of roughly-hewn late 18th-century elements, along with some modern replacements. A 20th-century uPVC door offers access to a roof terrace, situated above the modern kitchen extension on the east side.