Higher Grenofen Farmhouse

Higher Grenofen Farmhouse

A farmhouse of late 16th or early 17th-century date, with significant mid-17th-century extensions and alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building is constructed of granite rubble with a painted upper end and a slate roof with gable end and ridge stacks to the right, the latter rebuilt in brick. The shippon has an asbestos slate roof.

The house follows a three-room and through-passage plan with a shippon to the left and hall and inner room to the right. The original arrangement included an axial stack backing onto the passage that heated the hall, while a gable end stack heated the inner room. The roof over the passage and shippon is at a lower level than the main house. The original stair is housed in a stair tower to the front, positioned on the lower left side of the passage. A later stair tower was added to the rear of the hall in the mid-17th century, and the hall was extended by one bay to the front, forming a two-storey gabled front wing.

The shippon was originally divided from the passage by a wall at ground floor level and a screen at first floor level. In the mid-19th century, its front wall was rebuilt with brick dressings, and in the 20th century it was converted to living accommodation at first floor level.

The front elevation is two storeys. The passage doorway is granite with a four-centred arch, chamfered and step-stopped, fitted with a ledged door with strap hinges. A small lean-to with a four-pane light adjoins it to the right, and the roof extends to the left to form a hood over the passage door. The two-storey gabled hall bay to the right features a ground floor three-light and first floor two-light granite mullioned casements, chamfered with dripstone and iron stanchions, though the casements now have 20th-century glazing. The inner room has jambs remaining from a three-light granite casement, though a 20th-century window has been inserted, and a similar two-light granite casement with mullion sits under the eaves.

A single-storey lean-to is attached to the end right, in the angle with an external battered stack. The stair tower to the left of the passage entrance has a pitched roof. The shippon to the left has a rebuilt front wall with an external stair to a half-glazed door, a large three-pane light with brick dressings under the eaves to the right (a former loading door), and a stable door with a brick segmental head to the left. A two-light 20th-century casement sits under the eaves. The gable end of the shippon to the left has no visible drain, two blocked ventilation openings with granite lintels, a two-light 20th-century casement under the eaves to the left, and the roof is hipped with a chamfered wall to the left.

The gable end to the right has a single-storey addition with a hipped slate roof and a two-light 20th-century window to the side, along with a 20th-century glazed porch to the rear. This addition is built around the corner of the house and continues up to the rear stair tower, which has a two-light window and a single unglazed light. The two-storey gabled stair tower has no windows.

The rear of the hall to the right has a single granite light above a single-storey lean-to and a two-light casement with glazing bars above. The rear passage entrance has a granite doorway with a four-centred arch, chamfered and stopped, fitted with a half-glazed door. A drain hole is visible to the right in the shippon. The shippon has two stable doors and two window openings, all unglazed with timber lintels. At first floor level under the eaves are two two-light windows, two single lights, and two further single-light 20th-century windows with glazing bars.

The interior features a wide passage entered from the front, screened from the rear by a wooden baffle. The front left stair tower contains a granite newel stair giving access to the first floor over the shippon. From the passage, a granite doorway with a four-centred arch, chamfered and stopped, leads to the hall to the right, fitted with a ledged door and stepped up. The hall fireplace has a large flat chamfered granite lintel, and the ceiling features chamfered axial beams. Convex-moulded wooden doorframes with ledged doors lead to the rear stair tower and inner room. The stair tower contains a wooden winder stair. At first floor landing, two chamfered doorframes lead to doors serving rooms over the hall and inner room. The room over the hall is partitioned, and a wall is corbelled out over the doors. A solid wall separates the hall from the inner room to roof level. At ground floor, the unheated addition behind the inner room was originally a dairy.