Lower Blagdon House

Lower Blagdon House is a gentry house dating from the early 18th century, probably built on an earlier core. It stands on the north side of Lower Blagdon Lane in Blagdon, Paignton, set slightly back from the road.

The house is constructed partly of stone rubble and partly of cob, with cement rendering and blocked-out sections. It has a slate roof with rendered chimney stacks. Some of the service blocks are built partly in brick, with one featuring a timber-framed, slate-hung first floor.

The plan is arranged around an L-shaped principal range of two rooms wide, facing south onto a garden, with subsidiary buildings grouped around a rear service yard. The main block has a stack at its right end (east) and a lateral stack at the rear left. A service and entrance wing extends at right-angles to the rear, providing a passage entrance into the stair hall with a stack serving the kitchen at its north end. The attic rooms, accommodating servants and children, have an unusual arrangement with service stairs set back-to-back with the main stair.

The service yard to the northeast contains a laundry block to the south, with a fireplace set back-to-back against the east end stack of the main range. Other service rooms adjoining the kitchen include a larder and a pound-house. The pound-house is notably fitted with access from the field to the north to allow apples to be dropped into it.

The exterior presents two storeys and an attic with a partial cellar. The south-facing front is asymmetrical with a 2:1-window arrangement; the left portion of the main range has a hipped roof. Rusticated cement-rendered quoins and deep boxed eaves provide detail. A 6-panel early 19th-century front door sits to the left of a 12-pane 19th-century sash window; the door has an overlight with ornamental glazing bars and is sheltered by a 20th-century timber open porch on posts. Above are two first-floor windows, probably 20th-century 2-over-4-pane top-hung sashes. A hipped roof dormer with 2-light timber casement and glazing bars dates from the 18th century. The right end of the main range features one 4-over-4-pane sash with vertical glazing bars and a plank cellar door at ground level.

To the left, set back, a single-storey block with hipped roof contains a fine, wide early 18th-century 2-panel door with moulded panels and a draw bar, serving the service rooms.

The three-bay garden elevation (right return) has a hipped roof at both ends. The central feature is a tall 12-pane sash flanked by probably early 19th-century French windows with margin panes and overlights with ornamental glazing bars matching the front door pattern. Three first-floor windows, probably 18th-century 12-pane sashes, occupy this elevation, with the left-hand pair having opening panes. Two hipped roof dormers contain 3-over-6-pane sashes. A verandah on plain timber posts runs along this side. The laundry block to the right has one 2-pane sash.

The rear elevation of the main block retains a panelled back door and sash windows. On the north side, approached from the field, the pound-house is covered by a long catslide roof.

The interior is remarkably unaltered. A fine series of moulded 2-panel early 18th-century doors extends through the house, including to the attic storey. The stair, dating from the early 19th century, is fitted with stick balusters and a mahogany handrail. Chimney-pieces are mostly timber, with some examples from the early 18th century. The attic rooms are plastered out with peep-holes from two of the bedrooms overlooking the landing. Flag floors service the kitchen and larder. The kitchen retains a massive, partly blocked fireplace. The laundry contains an open fireplace with a chamfered step-stopped timber lintel and a 19th-century copper. The service yard is paved with local stone. The pound-house retains the beam for a press, though the press itself has been removed.

This is an unusually complete small gentry house with good-quality architectural detail and well-preserved service buildings. The present owner is a descendant of the Mudge family, recorded as occupants of Blagdon in 1567.