Persondy

Persondy

This house reveals little about its genuine architectural importance from its external appearance. The building is constructed of local rubble stone, entirely rendered, with a roof of imitation stone slates and a concrete tile roof on the modern verandah. It is a two-storey, two-room dwelling with a mid-20th-century single-storey verandah running along the east long wall and the south gable wall. The verandah has continuous glazing and obscures the original entrance in the south gable, the present entrance in the east wall, and the ground-floor east window. The south gable once had a stair window, now hidden beneath render. The main stack is positioned on this gable. The east wall features a 3-light casement on the ground floor and another 3-light casement on the upper floor, which may retain partly original frames. The west wall has three windows below, the centre one being a 4-light casement in a probably original frame; the right-hand one is set into the end of the verandah, and the left-hand one lights what was originally the dairy, a room that would not have had a window except on the north elevation. The north gable has a window at ground-floor level and another above it lighting a closet; these may incorporate some original work.

Three ground-floor features are now internal, located within the verandah. The south gable entrance was reopened by the present owner and is fitted with a modern oak plank door. The east entrance door into the parlour is inserted into an original window opening, also probably undertaken by the present owner; Fox and Raglan recorded it as a window. The east window is an original opening with an oak lintel intended for a 5-light window; the diamond-set mullions and cill are late-20th-century additions, as this served as the entrance in 1960.

The two-cell plan remains evident internally, with oak post-and-panel partitions surviving through both floors. Every member is moulded with elaborate quarter and half rolls, including the two door frames which have 4-centred heads. The hall has three cross beams, two of which are visibly cranked. The chamfers feature five parallel quarter and half roll moulds running the full length and dying into the stops. The joists also carry moulded chamfers and support the original oak floorboards. An unexplained gap exists between the end of the beams and the lintel on the east wall, marking the site of some former alteration. The fireplace was reopened by the present owner, and the lintel recorded by Fox and Raglan was reinstated after being found in the field outside. It has shrunk and cracked somewhat but displays the same mouldings. The firestair, which has undergone some alteration, leads to the upper floor. The partition doors are missing, as is the inner room partition, though its former position is clearly visible; it was in place when Fox and Raglan recorded it. The east room served as a priest's study and is finely finished with the same mouldings to the ceiling and the back of the partition. These mouldings are absent from the dairy, which has plain chamfers. This room once contained a salting stone, now gone.

The upper floor has an unmoulded partition, but the door to the right survives. The ceiling beams are again cranked and quarter-roll moulded with ogee stops. The joists are also moulded, though these and the floorboards are modern replacements. Modern oak fitted cupboards are present, and the inner room has been divided into a bathroom and second bedroom, all executed in keeping with the character of the building.

The roof comprises three bays with two massive A-frame trusses halved and tenoned at the apex, two tiers of purlins, rafters, and a ridge piece set on the diagonal, all complete.