Pearchay Farmhouse

Pearchay Farmhouse is a late 17th-century farmhouse, likely extended and re-roofed in the 18th century. At the time of a survey in 1987, it was in use as a tied house to the Old Rectory. The farmhouse is constructed of whitewashed plastered cob and stone rubble, with a thatched roof. The roof has a plain ridge, is hipped at the left end and half-hipped at the right end and incorporates back-to-back fireplaces which are contained within an axial stack with a handmade brick shaft. A rear dairy wing has a corrugated asbestos roof.

The building follows an overall ‘T’ shaped plan. The main range, facing south, is single depth, with a lobby entrance against the axial stack. Originally, a kitchen was situated to the left, slightly larger than the parlour to the right. A thick crosswall divides the kitchen from the service room to the front and a straight-run staircase parallel to the rear wall in the extreme left end of the house. Late 17th-century carpentry details are present in the principal ground floor rooms, with later, likely late 18th-century, roof trusses. The building probably began as a two-room plan house, then extended to the left and re-roofed, although the crossbeams in the two main ground floor rooms may be exceptionally late in style. The single-storey dairy wing, later re-used as a kitchen, likely dates from before 1850.

The exterior features a two-storey main range and a single-storey rear wing. The asymmetrical front has three windows, with the front door positioned to the right of centre. Most windows are small-pane timber casements, likely from the late 18th or early 19th century, although the ground floor windows on the left and right are 20th-century replacements.

Internally, the fireplaces in the axial stack are blocked but may retain early lintels and jambs; the left-hand room's fireplace includes a bread oven projection visible from the dairy. Both principal rooms have chamfered crossbeams; the left-hand room features large scroll stops, while the right-hand room has run-out stops. The left-hand room contains a small 18th-century wall cupboard with original hinges and a short fixed bench with shaped brackets. A tongue-in-groove plank partition wall, likely from the 19th century, is found in the first floor room over the left end of the house. The two first-floor rooms remain open to one another. The roof features A-frame trusses of large scantling, pegged at the apex but with butt collars.

The farmhouse is an unspoiled traditional dwelling, and its lobby entrance plan form is more associated with this part of Devon than elsewhere.