Fairlea Residential Home

Fairlea Residential Home

Detached house, built between 1872 and 1877, of two storeys and attics with a basement, standing on rising ground overlooking Northam. The architect is unknown. The building is constructed of dark two-tone local limestone with Bath stone dressings and a grey slate roof, designed in a picturesque late medieval idiom.

The house is irregular in plan, oriented north-east to south-west. The main entrance is set within a two-storeyed porch on the north-east side. Internally, the house is planned around a two-storey central staircase hall with accommodation arranged to either side. The principal rooms overlook the garden to the south-east. The original service range to the north-west was later replaced by extensive kitchens further north-west. Large modern extensions providing additional accommodation have been added to the south-west; these are not of special interest.

The north-east elevation is dominated by a central two-storeyed entrance tower with a pyramidal spire roof. The Bath stone frontispiece features a moulded stone doorway within a depressed arch, set within a decorative ogee surround and flanked by engaged half-columns (partly twisted) with shields. To either side of the porch are single-storey canted bays with pierced stone parapets and gargoyles, executed in matching late medieval style.

The south or garden elevation contains a large two-storey canted bay at the south-eastern corner with window openings set in carved Bath stone panels rising to a carved eaves cornice. Adjacent to the west is a second, smaller two-storey canted bay with a spire roof and simpler decoration. Further west on the ground floor are two full-height mullioned and transomed windows; above them are square windows set in hipped dormers. Prominent chimneys and a complex roof arrangement create a picturesque effect.

The western elevation is largely concealed by twentieth-century extensions, though the two-storey staircase window with an angled stone transom stair string remains visible. The north or rear elevation is relatively plain and includes the original service range with backstairs and servants' quarters in the roof space, together with a large later kitchen and service extension.

Internally, the house retains much of its original floor plan and several notable features. The hall preserves its decorative scheme including a polychrome tiled floor, dado rail and carved wooden cornice. The closed-string staircase features a swept and ramped handrail, turned balusters, turned finials and lantern-shaped pendants. The staircase window is mullioned and transomed, set within a four-centred arch with eight lights retaining decorative floral stained glass. The doors and door cases display individually detailed architraves. The hall is crowned by an impressive open trussed roof supported on carved corbels, with pierced trelliswork inserted above the collars, creating a dramatic entrance. The principal rooms retain their decorative timbered ceilings and interconnecting doors with detailed architraves, although other original fittings such as fireplaces have been removed. In the north-west, a stone stair leads to the basements. On the first floor, the original doors and door cases survive to the landing, though the bedrooms have been subdivided by inserted partition walls and lowered ceilings. In the north-west angle, a timber winder stair with Gothic revival details gives access to the attics.

The house does not appear in the 1871 census. By 1878 it was occupied by Tom Sawyer, a retired surgeon, and remained with his family until 1902. Kitchens were added in the 1930s, and a post-war extension provided an additional accommodation block. During the Second World War, the house served first as an orphanage and later as an officers' mess for American forces stationed nearby, before becoming a council-run retirement home.

Fairlea was acquired by Devon County Council in 1945 for use as a children's home. In 1957 the property was converted to a residential home for the elderly and was extended in the 1970s and modernised in the 1990s. The house is currently used as a residential nursing home for the elderly.