Windout Farmhouse

Farmhouse. It likely originated in the medieval period and was remodelled around the late 16th century. The walls are colourwashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings, and the roof is thatched with gabled ends. The end stacks include a front lateral projecting stack with a granite ashlar shaft, and a rear stack. The original layout was probably a 3-room and cross-passage plan, with a lower end room on the left, subdivided in the 20th century and intended as a high-status parlour. A wing at a right angle to the inner room creates an L-shaped layout, which may have been added as a kitchen in the 17th century.

The farmhouse is two storeys high, with an irregular 6-window front. The eaves of the thatch rise as gables above three first-floor half-dormers. The lateral stack is flanked by granite runnels to direct rainwater away from the chimney breast. A wide, half-glazed front door is positioned to the left of centre, leading into the passage, which has a flat porch canopy. The windows are 2-light casement windows with 6 panes per light. Some casements have iron fittings with hasp handles and may date to the late 18th or early 19th century. Fire insurance signs are visible in two of the dormer gables, with plaster arms displaying a castle above the front door. A rear wing also has casement windows with small panes.

The interior, though not fully inspected, retains notable features. The lower end ground floor room (left-hand side) has been divided by a plasterboard partition fixed to a deeply chamfered cross beam with stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. On either side of the cross beam are two decorated plaster ceilings with different designs but using the same motifs: lions, double-headed eagles, and castles, separated by a pattern of ribs. This plasterwork is believed to have been created by the same atelier as that at Little Hackworthy. A 20th-century grate to the left-hand room and the axial stack likely conceals earlier features. The interior of the rear wing was not inspected but is said to contain exposed beams and a large blocked fireplace. Roofspace access was unavailable during the 1985 survey, though a medieval roof and thatch may exist under the visible thatch at eaves level.

This is a particularly attractive example of a cob and thatch house in the region, distinguished by its notable plasterwork. The house has not been substantially altered this century.