The Retreat

The Retreat, located at No 2 Broad Steps in Harbertonford, is a cottage that is likely part of a larger house originally, dating from the early 17th century. It is constructed from roughcast stone rubble and features a steeply pitched asbestos slate roof with gabled ends that connect to adjacent cottages. The left gable end has a rendered stack with weatherings.

The cottage has a single cell plan, with a ground floor room and an upper chamber heated by fireplaces located in a stack at the left end. There is a wing at the back that overhangs an access passage leading to the rear of the adjoining cottages.

The exterior is two storeys high with a one-window front, featuring 20th-century two and three-light casements. To the right, there is a doorway with a 20th-century door and a glazed porch.

Inside, the cottage has a chamfered axial ceiling beam with run-out stops, and another beam near the rear wall that is unchamfered. The fireplace on the left side wall has slate rubble jambs and an ovolo-moulded timber lintel with run-out stops resting on large ovolo-moulded timber corbels. The chamber above contains a fireplace with a similar but smaller moulded timber lintel, though it does not rest on corbels. The principal rafters have straight feet, and the apex features a mortice and tenoned joint. The ceiling of the passage under the rear way has chamfered joists with hollow step stops.