Blue Ball Farmhouse

The Blue Ball Farmhouse is a late 17th-century farmhouse, with a mid-19th-century dairy outshot and modernization work circa 1985. The walls are primarily plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with some stone rubble, and the roof is slate with a diamond pattern, formerly thatched. The original plan was a three-room lobby entrance plan, facing south. A small room originally a dairy or buttery, has a later stack added to its right. This is followed by the former kitchen and then the parlour at the west end. An axial stack between the kitchen and parlour originally served back-to-back fireplaces, with a lobby entrance projecting slightly forward. A winder stair rises in a turret behind this stack. Around 1985, a 19th-century dairy block at the right end was converted into a kitchen, and service outshots were added to the back of the house.

The two-story front has a 1:1:2-window arrangement of 19th-century oak-framed casements with glazing bars. An original oak 3-light frame with flat-faced mullions is on the first floor of the left end, and a similar window illuminates the rear staircase. The front door is in the projecting bay to the left of centre, with a 19th-century plank door. The roof is hipped at both ends.

The interior retains significant late 17th-century carpentry details. The parlour features a roughly chamfered axial beam, likely originally plastered, with a fireplace having an original chamfered oak lintel with the remains of scroll stops. The former kitchen’s crossbeam is chamfered with bar-scroll-nick stops and has a plastered fireplace with a plain oak lintel, incorporating a bread oven located beneath the staircase. Old timber gun brackets are affixed to the chimneybreast. The former buttery/dairy shows no original carpentry. The staircase balustrade is in a 17th-century style and appears to reuse parts of the original handrail. The chamber fireplace above the former kitchen is original and brick-built with a curving pent (back) and plain oak lintel. The roof structure is supported by original A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars. The modern kitchen has plain 19th-century carpentry.