Whitestone Farmhouse

Whitestone Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating to the mid-17th century, with a later 17th-century front wing added to the left, and a mid-19th century wing to the right. Further alterations occurred in the 19th century, and the roof was re-tiled in the 20th century. The house is constructed of granite rubble with an asbestos slate roof, a rendered gable stack now located on the ridge, and a side stack to the later 17th-century wing. Original slate roofing remains on the addition to the rear right. Originally a two-room house with a central through passage, the lower right-hand room served as a hall/kitchen, heated by a gable end stack, with a stair tower to the rear. To the left of this was the passage and a smaller, originally unheated, upper room. In the late 17th century, a one-room plan front wing was added to the left, enclosing the passage entrance and heated from a stack on its upper left side. In the mid-19th century, a double-depth plan addition was built at the lower right end, incorporating an integral service room behind. A later 19th-century single-storey service lean-to was added to the rear. In the 20th century, a single-storey addition was built around the stair turret in the angle with the lower end addition. The gable end of the left-hand wing features a two-light casement with a brick segmental head on both the ground and first floors, with a slate string course. A half-glazed door with a segmental head sits on the inner side. To the right of the original building, two bays feature a three-light and a two-light casement on the ground floor, with slate dripstones. The first floor has two two-light casements under the eaves. A set-back glazed porch and a similar two-light casement are on the right, with a plate-glass sash and a two-light casement on the first floor above. The left return shows a stepped external stack heating the later 17th-century wing, with a former end wall rebuilt in the later 17th century, and a small two-light casement with a brick segmental head on the ground floor. The right return has a two-span roof over the rear 19th-century block. The ground and first floors have four-pane sashes with cambered heads. The rear elevation has a two-light casement with a brick segmental head on the ground floor right, a smaller two-light casement with a brick segmental head on the ground floor, and a single-storey late 19th century lean-to with a door and a two-light casement to the left, built around the rear stair tower with a single light in a granite hollow-chamfered surround at first floor level in the gable end. A single-storey 20th-century lean-to is set to the left and rear of the 19th-century block with a two-light casement at first floor right. Inside, the front wing's ground floor room contains a fireplace with a plain granite lintel, one cross beam, and hooks in the ceiling. The rear room of the wing also has hooks in the ceiling. The stair tower’s newel stair incorporates reused 18th-century turned balusters on the first floor landing, and an inner timber lintel to the stair light. On the first floor, formerly cob walling is visible, along with splayed reveals to the front window and one row of purlins and boxed principals. To the right of the former passage, a fireplace at a former gable end has a heavy cambered timber lintel, an oven to the rear left, and a possible smoking chamber to the right, with six cross beams and splayed reveals to front and rear windows.