Billacombe Farmhouse

Farmhouse, dating from the 17th century with 19th-century alterations and 20th-century renovations. It is constructed of stone rubble with an asbestos slate roof, gabled at the ends. Stone chimneys are located at the right gable end, gable end of a wing, and on the ridge. The original plan likely involved two or three rooms and a through passage, with a projecting wing forming an L-shape. The lower part of the house appears to have been partly rebuilt, likely in the 19th century, when an axial stack may have been inserted into the former passage and the upper end was largely refenestrated. At one time, the lower end was used as a dairy and office. The rear of the original 17th-century house now faces forward. The asymmetrical front has four windows arranged irregularly. A straight joint indicates some rebuilding at the lower end. A late 20th-century gabled stone porch, with a reused 17th-century timber ovolo-moulded doorway, is positioned off-centre. To the left of the porch is a three-light casement window with eight panes, beneath a wide timber lintel that likely marked the rear door of the former through passage. A three-light casement window with four panes is on the ground floor to the right. Two ground floor windows to the left are each two-light casements with six panes. On the first floor, a three-light casement with six panes is to the left, above the porch is a three-light casement with eight panes, and to the right is a three-light casement with six panes. A 17th-century three-light ovolo-moulded timber window is on the right return of the front. The rear of the house, which was originally the front, has a two-storey gabled porch and retains an ovolo-moulded timber doorway in situ. Inside, exposed ceiling beams are visible on the ground floor to the right. There are likely 19th-century fireplaces with brick lintels. A ground floor room to the right has a fixed timber seat below the window. A partly concealed ovolo-moulded 17th-century window to the right of the porch, within what was the former front wall, indicates that the rebuilding of the lower end was partial. An ovolo-moulded doorway into the room above the porch has step stops. The roof features side-pegged collar trusses of large scantling throughout, originally with diagonally set ridge. A pegged truss is located over the porch.