Higher House Farmhouse

Higher House Farmhouse is likely of 16th-century origin, with improvements made in the 17th century, followed by extensive refurbishment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and modernization around 1980. The construction incorporates exposed local Salcombe stone and flint rubble, with stone rubble stacks—one disused, the other topped with 19th-century brick—and a slate roof, originally thatched. The original plan was a three-room-and-through-passage farmhouse facing south-southwest. The unheated inner room is at the west end. The hall has an axial stack that backs onto the former passage, and a newel staircase rises in front of the stack. In the 20th century, the partition between the hall and inner room was removed, uniting the two rooms. The service end kitchen, to the east, has a gable-end stack, with another newel staircase alongside it. A partition in the lower passage was removed in the 20th century to enlarge the former kitchen, and the rear passage doorway was blocked. While the house’s layout suggests 16th-century origins, few original features remain. The fireplaces, windows, and one surviving early beam date to the 17th century. The house has been two stories since the early 17th century. 20th-century outshots extend to the rear. The exterior presents a regular, though not symmetrical, four-window front. All windows are 17th-century Salcombe ashlar windows with hollow-chamfered mullions, with just a few mullions missing. Ground floor windows have hoodmoulds, and a small light is situated above the hall stair. The passage front doorway is a plain ashlar opening now containing a late 19th-century six-panel door. The roof is gable-ended. The interior largely reflects the late 18th and early 19th-century refurbishment and 20th-century modernization. The hall fireplace is plastered rubble with a plain chamfered oak lintel, of indeterminate date. The service end kitchen fireplace is stone rubble with a chamfered and scroll-stopped oak lintel, including a large oven. The only early beam, across the back of the hall stack, is also chamfered with scroll stops. The remaining carpentry detail dates to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including A-frame roof trusses with pegged and spiked lap-jointed collars.