Summary

Treffry Farmhouse, a farmhouse of medium size, thought to have been built circa 1710, with some alterations and additions of the later C18, C19 and C20.

Description

MATERIALS: local stone rubble and granite, exposed at basement level. The front elevation is slate hung; the rear and side elevations are pebble-dashed. The hipped roof is currently hung with artificial slate, with ridge tiles; the side stacks are of brick. There are two C20 inserted roof-lights; the common rafters have been replaced together with the roof covering, and if the attic was once lit by dormer windows no indication of this is thought to remain. The basement windows have brick arches. On the front elevation the window openings hold early-C19 nine-over-nine sash frames with a good proportion of old glass remaining. To rear, eight-over-eight frames, with horned sashes at ground-floor level. The basement window openings hold C20 casements.

PLAN: rectangular double pile plan, with principal frontage to south. There is a later, C18 or C19 outbuilding attached to the west, with a further small lean-to building adjoining to the north, and a small single-storey extension attached to the north-east corner. The site slopes downwards to the north, the basement being approached at ground level.

EXTERIOR: the house is of two storeys with basement, and is three bays wide, with a window above the central entrance; the original window openings are markedly tall and narrow. The entrance has its original door, with raised and fielded panels, the upper two panels now glazed. The door is approached by three granite steps, and sheltered by a late-C19 timber porch with margin-glazed lights containing etched and coloured glass. The east elevation is blind; the blind western elevation is partially obscured by the attached agricultural building. In the rear elevation, the window openings are wider; the ground-floor windows have segmental arches. Centrally, beneath the eaves, is a small casement window, lighting the upper landing. The rear entrance, slightly off-centre to east, is reached by a flight of semi-circular steps, incorporating a mounting or loading block to left. The two-panelled planked door with original furniture has an inserted glazed light. Projecting above the entrance is a C20 bathroom extension, resting on iron posts. The basement is entered through a doorway to east.

INTERIOR: the house retains an unusually complete early-C18 interior. The front door leads to a hall, from which the four rooms open, the stair being at the far end. The tight open-well stair is wide, and is of the open-string type, with three turned balusters to each tread (two of these have been replaced) and turned newel posts; the brackets are carved with a flower and scroll design, noted as being similar to that embellishing the stair at nearby Lancarffe in Helland parish. In the hall, the doors and frames are original, each door with six raised fielded panels; except in that to the western front room, the panels are fielded on the outer face only. The doors have been stripped of their original finish. The hall has a moulded cornice, and skirting board. The eastern front room has complete fielded panelling, the door forming part of the scheme, with panelled window embrasures; there is a dentil cornice, and dado rail. This panelling is a remarkable survival, particularly in that it retains what appears to be its original high-quality wood-graining, the softwood being grained to resemble oak. The grained chimneypiece is thought to be C20. The door to this room retains what may be the original lock-case and handle. The western front room is smaller, and is without surviving historic features. The western back room retains panelling to dado level on the back wall, with a window seat incorporated; this panelling, with recessed panels, is later than that found in the eastern front room, dating from the later C18 or early C19. This back room also contains a fixed corner cupboard, the H-hinges having decorative ends. The fireplace has been removed, though the hearth remains. The eastern back room now contains a modern kitchen, and is thought not to retain features of interest. On the first floor are five rooms, there being a small central room to the front. The rooms open symmetrically from the square landing; the doors and frames are original, as on the ground floor. The rooms contain few features of note: fireplaces have been removed, and cornices and skirtings have been replaced or added, though the cornice to the western front room is thought to be original. The staircase continues to the attic storey in the same form as at the lower levels. The attic has plain two-panelled C18 doors with some original door furniture. The roof structure is designed to accommodate the attic rooms, which have sloping walls, in which the principal rafters are visible; the ceiling is inserted at purlin level. Above the ceiling, the roof trusses are formed of collars with king posts morticed and tenoned and pegged at the ridge. The common rafters have been replaced. The basement is reached by an enclosed straight stair accessed from the rear western room. The original layout of the basement has been altered: a portion has been taken from the eastern front room to gain a window for the central room, and a bathroom has been inserted to the rear; there are other partitions, and lowered ceilings. The large western back room, formerly the kitchen, contains a fireplace with re-used granite surround, having a tall lintel and stop-chamfered jamb; the fireplace has been reduced in width to left, the left-hand jamb being removed or obscured. There is an oven to the rear of the fireplace. A door with slit vents leads from the kitchen to the western front room, which has slate window sills and a slate bench. The basement also contains a C18 two-panelled planked door with its original latch.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: to west, a single-storey rubble stone agricultural building, added in the later C18 or early C19, and much altered. The wide opening to the south indicates that this was originally a cartshed; the opening has twice been reduced in width, and converted to a window. Other openings in the building have also been altered; the northern doorway has been widened with a single granite jamb inserted. The roof has been replaced. A flue rises against the west wall of the house, thought to be the result of the building being converted to use as a back kitchen.

Attached to this building to north, a later lean-to structure, also of stone, and probably of C19 date, with double doors opening towards the house. The north-west corner of this building follows the curve of the road, with a low doorway to the road to north. A window in the north wall has been reduced.

The single-storey lean-to structure to the north-east corner of the house is thought to be C19, with a new mono-pitch roof.

The approach to the house from the south is marked by a pair of granite gate piers with segmental-arched tops.

History

Treffry Farmhouse, which dates from the early C18, stands on the site of a medieval manor house, home to the Treffry family, and sold in 1620 by William Treffry. The site, which lies to the west of the western lodge of Lanhydrock House, later formed part of the Lanhydrock Estate. The farmhouse is set to the east of farm buildings with which it was formerly associated.

Reasons for Listing

Treffry Farmhouse is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural Interest: as an unusually complete farmhouse of the early C18, with a particularly well-proportioned principal elevation, in which the tall, narrow window openings remain unchanged, containing good early C19 sash windows;
* Internal features: the house retains extensive high-quality joinery of the early C18: the ground-floor room with complete early-C18 grained panelling is a particularly remarkable survival, whilst there is an original staircase of high quality, and sets of panelled doors to the ground and first floors, with more modest early features to the attic and basement;
* Plan: the internal layout and circulation of the house remains largely as originally planned;
* Roof: the original pegged roof structure survives intact;
* External features: the semi-circular stone staircase to the rear of the house, possibly modified to provide a mounting block or ledge, is a noteworthy feature.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17556296

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
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  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
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  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)