East Lake Farmhouse

East Lake Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the early to mid-17th century, with possible medieval origins. It is constructed of plastered cob and rubble walls, and has a thatched roof gabled at the left-hand end and hipped to the right. There are three brick stacks: one at the left gable, one axial, and one at the right-hand end on a projecting cob base.

The original plan was a three-room-and-through-passage layout, with a lower room to the right. A newel staircase is located in a projection at the rear of the hall, with the hall stack backing onto the passage. Smaller inner and lower rooms feature inserted stacks.

The asymmetrical front has two storeys and four windows, mainly featuring 20th-century casements of 1, 2, and 3 lights. A 19th-century small-paned 3-light casement is situated to the left of centre on the ground floor, and a circa late 19th or early 20th-century 2-light casement with diagonal glazing bars is located to the right. A 20th-century plank door provides access to the passage towards the right-hand end.

The rear elevation shows a passage doorway to the left of centre, framed by an original chamfered wooden doorframe. A large semi-circular stair projection with a gabled roof contains a small 3-light mullion window. An inserted doorway leads into the inner room to the right of the stair projection.

Inside, a chamfered plank and muntin screen with hollow step stops to the muntins is located at the lower side of the passage. The hall fireplace has dressed granite jambs and a chamfered, hollow step-stopped wooden lintel. Three ceiling beams are similarly finished. An 18th-century wall cupboard has a fielded panel door. The hall also features two 17th-century ovolo-moulded doorframes with vase stops – one to the inner room and one to the newel stairs; a similar doorway also leads into the hall from the passage. The newel stairs have solid oak treads, and a simple balustrade with a rough finial to the newel post. A chamfered double doorframe is located at the head of the stairs and one into the left-hand end first-floor room.

The roof is a complete 17th-century structure featuring straight principals with trenched purlins and collars halved on with notched lap-joints. Over the stair turret, a blackened timber may be a smoke-blackened common rafter from an earlier roof structure.

East Lake Farmhouse is a very complete 17th-century house, surviving in a particularly unaltered state and preserving a number of good quality features.