Bellaire House

Bellaire House is a house of probable 17th or earlier origins, significantly altered and refaced in the early 18th century. It is located in Pilton, Barnstaple. Constructed from cob and stone, the house is characterised by a natural slate roof with sprocketed eaves, hipped ends, and brick stacks topped with old pots.

The house follows a courtyard plan, encompassing four ranges surrounding a small rear yard. The main range comprises a three-room and through-passage layout, with two rooms to the right, one to the left, a rear outshut, and a projecting rear stair. A rear left wing contains a dairy/pantry, while the rear right wing houses the kitchen. The presence of 17th or earlier features in both rear wings suggests that the original U-shaped layout dates back to the 17th century. A rear range, originally a stable, has been converted into a separate cottage within the same ownership as the main house.

The front elevation presents an asymmetrical four-window arrangement, accentuated by rusticated quoins and a moulded eaves cornice. The front door, positioned to the right of centre, features a Tuscan doorcase and a panelled, glazed door. Two French windows stand to the right of the front door, exhibiting glazing bars and margin panes. A late 19th-century canted bay, adorned with a moulded cornice and four-pane sashes, is located to the left. Four first-floor windows accommodate twelve-pane sashes. The rear elevation exhibits a gabled stair projection and a ground-floor, 17th-century, three-light oak window with chamfered mullions, which illuminates the dairy/pantry.

Internally, features from before the 18th century include a moulded oak beam within the kitchen, running along the wall towards the courtyard, and what appears to be a garderobe, now repurposed as first- and ground-floor cupboards, said to have a drain and grating beneath the floorboards. Later 18th-century features consist of two-panel doors, a bolection-moulded chimney-piece, the staircase (with turned balusters), plaster cornices and friezes in the passage and principal ground-floor room, and a coved ceiling in one first-floor room. A late 19th-century marble chimney-pieces are also present. The dairy/pantry boasts slate shelves. The roof’s steep pitch and straight principal rafters suggest a possible 17th-century origin.

Historical records indicate that the house was owned by the Howard family following the Dissolution. In the 18th century, it was likely owned by Richard Parminter, a wealthy Barnstaple merchant, and remained in the Parminter family's possession until 1776.