Exton Farmhouse

Exton Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the early to mid 17th century, with alterations from the 19th century and substantial extensions added to the right. The main part of the house is constructed of roughcast cob on stone footings, with a brick gable end and some brick patching; it has gabled-end roofs, thatched over the farmhouse section and tiled on the 19th-century extension.

The original plan is a variation of the three-room, through-passage layout, which is uncommon in Devon for a house of this size. The principal heated rooms are located at either end; the hall is on the left with a 19th-century end stack, and the parlour is on the right, featuring an end stack with a bake oven. The middle room was originally an unheated service room until a rear lateral stack was inserted in the 19th century. The staircase is positioned at the rear of the passage, which is accessed through a two-storey porch.

The front of the 17th-century section has a three-window arrangement, alongside a two-storey porch. The porch is supported by two Tuscan columns and features a door surround with a cyma recta moulding and elaborate bases decorated with a saltire design. The door lintel has a cavetto and two fillets, along with hollow step stops. The door itself is panelled with nine sections, studded rails, and fleur de lis strap hinges. 19th-century casement windows (two-, three-, and four-light) are present in the principal rooms and their corresponding upper rooms, except for the four-light ground floor window on the right-hand end (the parlour), which dates to the 17th century and has an ovolo moulded surround and mullions.

The rear of the house includes three mid-19th century first-floor windows with two lights and transoms, each containing four large panes and eight smaller panes above the transom. Three later two-light casement windows are situated on the ground floor. A half-glazed rear door opposes the main entrance. A 19th-century lean-to and a gable-ended single-storey brick extension are also present. The roadside extension features brick quoining, three gable half dormers, and two three-light ground floor windows that match the farmhouse’s rear first floor windows. The left-hand end wall of the house was likely rebuilt in brick at the same time, incorporating three single-light windows under depressed arches.

Inside, the parlour retains two chamfered cross beams, each with a scroll stop and bar. The service room’s parlour-end fireplace exhibits a good and unusual example of a Victorian open range with a bake oven, which was reorganised in the 19th century, but lacks contemporary internal features. The hall contains two and a half chamfered cross beams, ovolo moulded, with stops featuring three bars, a saltire, and scroll details. The roof was not inspected, but the roof principals visible in the upper rooms are large and straight.