Saethon Old Farmhouse

The Saethon Old Farmhouse is a house dating from the 17th century, with later alterations and additions. It is constructed of whitewashed roughcast over rubble stone, with square corniced stone end stacks and a steep roof of small rough slates. The house is arranged in a T-plan with two storeys and a loft, and has a five-window east front with windows spaced 1-3-1. These are small-paned windows from the early 19th century, some sash windows and others with a tilting upper part; the first-floor windows have 20 panes, while the ground-floor fourth and fifth windows have 24 panes. A smaller six-pane window is on the ground floor to the left, and a door is situated in the second bay, bearing a date plaque from 1666 and a British Fire Insurance plaque.

The south end wall features a raised chimney breast and a blocked 16th-century two-light stone mullion window with cusped curved heads on the first floor to the right. An outbuilding is attached to the south, built of rubble stone with a collapsed slate roof and a large stone end stack. The east front of the outbuilding has stone steps leading to a loft door in the angle to the main range, with a 20-pane window to the loft and a small nine-pane ground floor window. Originally, the main entrance was on the ground floor, with a dripstone, but this has been blocked by stone steps. A lean-to is on the south end.

The rear of the main house is roughcast with small-paned windows on each floor. The rear of the main house features a blocked window on the first floor to the right, originally mullioned, and a large central rear wing with a west end stack and a small window on each floor to the right in the west gable end. To the left of the gable, an added outshut has a door and paired four-pane windows.

Inside, the house originally had three rooms on the ground floor. The ground floor rooms feature chamfered ceiling beams. The south end room has a large fireplace and an in-and-out moulded plank partition to the entrance passage. The centre room contains a rear-wall fireplace, partially infilled. The north end room has an axial beam and has been subdivided. A rear centre stair originally led from the centre room; it now descends from the entrance passage. The stair has plain wooden treads around a solid wall, although it may have originally been stone. The first floor has six bays, seemingly originally divided into three rooms, but now subdivided. The partitions are plank. The attic has a six-bay roof with five tie-beam and collar trusses in oak, originally divided into three rooms by wattle-and-daub partitions. The first, third and fifth trusses are arch-braced, with feet below floor level. The two partition trusses are simpler – the second has struts between the tie and collar, while the fourth has the collar cut through. Double purlins remain, along with slots for removed wind bracing.