Mid House, Papa Westray

Mid House, Papa Westray

Mid House is a traditional single-storey, three-bay cottage dating to circa 1825, with a single-storey extension added in 1912. The building is accompanied by two barns to the south forming a U-plan courtyard, together with ancillary structures to the southeast and northwest.

The main cottage is rendered, while exposed flagstone appears elsewhere including on the house extension. The quoins feature alternate canted corner stones.

The principal south elevation is symmetrical, with windows to the right and left bays. An advanced modern twentieth-century flat-roofed porch with an off-centre door to the left is flanked by windows. The 1912 extension to the right contains a door and window to its far right. The west elevation has a window to the left. The north elevation features a rear lean-to extension to the original cottage on the left, with a window to the right of the later addition. The east elevation contains a window to the right.

Windows and doors are replacements. Modern roof lights sit to the front of the original cottage, with a roof light to the rear of the extension. The original cottage has a pitched roof with modern slate; the later addition retains its original stone slate roof. Gable end stacks stand to the original cottage, with an east gable end stack to the extension.

The interior features a baffle entrance with a corridor to the south. The kitchen to the west contains a stove positioned at the west gable, with a box bed opposite. Timber-panelled two-leaf doors lead to a cupboard to the left of the box bed. The ben end to the east has a box bed projecting from the west wall and a fireplace to the east. A modern bathroom has been inserted between the but and ben end rooms. A door to the right of the ben end fireplace opens into the extension, with a corridor ahead. A room to the east contains a box bed to the west wall and a fireplace to the east wall with glazed tiles to the fireplace surround. A cupboard door sits to the right of the fireplace, with a window to the left. A further door to the right of the box bed leads into a room to the west. The rooms display vibrant colours: the but end is painted in shades of green, with a green kitchen dresser and glass-fronted cabinet, while the extension features pink and yellow decor. The room behind the box bed is painted green, and the entrance corridor is orange, with the ben end painted yellow. All box beds are architraved with pelmets. Coved ceilings with timber lining appear in all rooms except the corridor.

The western barn has a cart or tractor shed to the far left of its east entrance elevation, with a raised wallhead and large doors. The barn proper stands to the right, with doors to the left and far right, the latter flanked by a window. A stone platform to the far right accommodates a water tank. The south and north elevations are plain gable walls. A lean-to extends along the rear of the barn on the west elevation. The barn has a pitched roof with stone slate and roof lights to the east. Replacement timber doors are in place. The interior was not seen in 2000.

The eastern barn has a sliding door to the left and a blocked door to the right on its west entrance elevation, with a stone platform to the far right for a water tank. An adjoining shed stands to the right with a door off-centre to the left. The south elevation features a blocked window to the right. The east elevation adjoins a shed to the left with a later lean-to barn to the right. The north elevation was not seen in 2000. Replacement timber doors are in place. The barns have pitched roofs; corrugated asbestos covers one section. Stone aisins remain to the shed to the south. The interior was not seen in 2000.

Several ancillary structures accompany the main complex. A small single-storey rectangular-plan shed stands to the northwest of the house, with a door in the south elevation to the right and plain walls to the north and west. Remains of a lean-to stand to the right of the east elevation, with a door to the south. The roof is stone slate with a central roof light to the south. A small, low lean-to shed stands to the north of the house, with field walls forming the south and east elevations and plain north and west elevations; it has a flagstone lean-to roof. A small single-storey rectangular-plan shed stands to the southeast of the east barn, with a door to the right in the west elevation and a lean-to to the right with a door in the west elevation. A lean-to extends to the south elevation with a plain north elevation; the east elevation was not seen in 2000. This shed has a stone slate roof with a roof light to the south.