Dira Farmhouse

Dira Farmhouse is a large farmhouse dating to the early 17th century, with alterations and improvements made in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It is constructed of volcanic rubble, with early 20th-century cement rendering to the front. The roof is slate, and the stacks are of rubble, with most topped with 19th-century brick.

The house is arranged around an east-west axis. A central passage runs through the house, with a two-story front porch. To the left (west) is a hall with a projecting rear lateral stack, and a parlour crosswing projecting forward with its own outer lateral stack and staircase. Behind the hall and parlour lies a kitchen block with a gable-end stack. A service room is situated to the right (east) of the passage, featuring a late 17th-century stack inserted into the front corner. An adjoining service crosswing also projects forward with a stack in its outer side wall, and the main block extends one room further east. All blocks have gable ends.

The symmetrical south front has nine windows across the main block, arranged as 2:2:1:2:2. Projecting gabled crosswings flank the central porch. These wings contain early 20th-century casement windows to the ground floor and attics, and sash windows with small panes in the upper lights and larger panes below. There are two windows either side of the porch, and on each crosswing, with a single small attic casement under each gable. The porch has a 20th-century arch, but the front door is contained within an early 17th-century oak doorframe with an ovolo-moulded surround and unusual pyramid stops.

The outer (east) side of the service block and the main block projection to the right retain small, early 17th-century oak windows with ovolo-moulded mullions and hoodmoulds at first-floor level. The rear elevation contains two early 17th-century window apertures with hoodmoulds towards the left end; the upper window has a late 17th/early 18th-century iron casement with leaded glass, while the lower is a tiny window with an original chamfered oak surround. A late 17th/early 18th-century rear passage doorway has a bead-moulded frame. An early 17th-century attic window to the rear stair and kitchen block has a three-light oak window with ovolo-moulded mullions.

The hall stack has a volcanic ashlar chimney shaft with a moulded cap and a large 19th-century brick-built conical chimney pot. Internally, some good 17th-century detail remains, though some features may be hidden or blocked by 19th or 20th-century plaster. The three-bay hall has a flagged floor and a late 17th/early 18th-century moulded plaster cornice. The parlour and a chamber above contain incomplete early 17th-century ornamental plasterwork friezes; the parlour frieze depicts shields with Pegasus supporters, while the chamber frieze features angels and Tudor roses on the soffit of crossbeams. The rear block includes an early 17th-century dog-leg oak staircase with a closed string, square newel posts with ball caps, a high moulded handrail, and large turned balusters. The service room to the right of the passage was upgraded in the late 17th century with a rear corridor, a fireplace and a ceiling featuring a moulded cornice and a large bolection-moulded oval in the formerly central panel. The service crosswing has chamfered and step-stopped crossbeams. The roof has A-frame trusses with dovetail lap-jointed collars.