West Chilla Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Dating to the early 17th century, it may have earlier origins, with alterations and additions in the 19th century. The walls are of plastered cob and rubble, and the roof is gabled and covered in corrugated asbestos. There are brick stacks at each gable end, and an axial stone stack of small blocks with dripmoulds and a dripcourse. The original layout was a 3-room-and-through-passage plan, with a smaller heated parlour and a dairy or service room at the upper end. The hall stack backs onto the passage, and a newel stair is located in a projection at the rear. An 18th-century lean-to dairy was added adjoining the upper end. A 19th-century fireplace was inserted into the lower room; it may originally have served a non-domestic purpose. The plan appears unchanged since the 19th century.

The exterior has an asymmetrical 4-window front, with a slightly lower roofline on the right-hand side. There are 19th-century small-paned 2 and 3-light casement windows, except for an early 19th-century 24-pane horizontal sliding sash window on the ground floor to the left. A 20th-century part-glazed door is located to the right of centre. A low 19th-century pighouse projects as a wing from the right-hand end, and a 19th-century lean-to is attached to the left-hand end. At the rear, a rectangular stair projection is located to the right of centre, with a lean-to to its right and a pump-house built in front.

Inside, the hall has a large open fireplace with a chamfered wooden lintel featuring diagonal cut stops and a chamfered granite jamb to the left. The inner room has a smaller fireplace with a chamfered, unstopped wooden lintel. The small room behind has a 17th-century chamfered wooden doorframe, of which the right-hand half has been removed. The roof has 18th or 19th-century trusses with straight principals and lapped, pegged collars. This is an unspoilt example of a traditional Devon farmhouse with little alteration since the 19th century.