Folly Cottage Larkrise

Larkrise and Folly Cottage, Fore Street, Kentisbeare

House, mid 17th century with later additions and alterations. The building is constructed of roughcast cob on stone footings with a gable-ended thatched roof.

The house now forms a 3-cell structure running parallel to the street with a rear wing. Originally it was a symmetrical 2-room plan house with a narrow central through-passage. Farmbuildings, probably attached at right angles to the left-hand end and set end-on to the street, were incorporated at some point, probably in the 18th century, when the farmbuilding range was converted into living accommodation comprising a room with a chamber above and a rear wing, both heated by a rear stack. The hipped roof of this earlier range remains visible internally. The wall between the original range and this added room is of cob. External rear lateral stacks heat each of the other rooms; one is now dismantled. The stacks are of cob with brick shafts.

The house is 2 storeys. The front elevation has a regular range of 5 windows. The 3 windows to the right consist of two 3-light casement windows flanking a 2-light window above the porch, all in tall embrasures. Windows to each side of the porch similarly reflect the original symmetrical house; the window to the right has saddle bars and old latches. All 4 ground floor windows have leaded panes. The porch dates from the 19th century and features open timber work and wavy bargeboarding. 20th-century casement windows are also present. The rear wing (Folly Cottage) was extended further, probably in the 19th century, with a roof ridge lower than the main house and 19th-century fenestration, heated by an end stack.

Internally, the middle and right-hand end rooms have reduced fireplaces and Victorian chimney pieces. The left-hand room has an exposed fireplace, largely rebuilt to the front, with a roughly chamfered lintel serving the wing. Ceiling beams are boxed. Joinery is largely mid to late 19th century, although the turned newels of the main stairs may be earlier, possibly 18th century. The roof is 17th century with morticed and pegged straight principals. The trusses to the wing appear later, though the early hip-structure survives. Folly Cottage features exposed ceiling and wall timbers and an open fireplace with wood bressummer.