Listed Building: FAIRTHORNE HOUSE (1074936)

TQ 64 PEMBURY TONBRIDGE ROAD 5/426 Fairthorne House 14.10.87 II Former farmhouse. C17 and C18, some C19 and C20 modernisation. Timber- framed. Ground floor is underbuilt with painted brick. Exposed framing above but tile-hung to rear. Secondary rear block is red brick with tile-hung framing at first floor level. Main stack has coursed sandstone base, brick above with brick chimneyshaft. Peg-tile roof. Plan: Basically an L-plan house. Main block faces north and has a 3-room plan. The left (east) end room is recessed from the main front. The main parlour at the right end has a projecting rear lateral stack. Front entrance between centre and right rooms. Probably C19 one-room plan rear block behind left end with stack on inner (western) side. The main house appears to be mostly the result of a large scale C18 rebuild of a C17 house, part of which remains in the centre and right room section. Main block is 2 storyes with attics in the roofspace. Exterior: Irregular front with 2 first floor windows and 3 ground floor windows, all C20 casements with glazing bars. Front doorway is right of centre behind a C20 porch containing a C20 plank door under a half-hipped roof. Left end bay is recessed from the main front. Framing is exposed at first floor level, 4 uneven bays overall. The timbers are of relatively slender scantling and includes straight tension braces. It appears to be C18. Roof is half-hipped both ends and contains 2 probably C19 gabled dormer windows. Interior: Was not available for inspection at the time of this survey although the 1987 list description describes C17 features. The main fireplace is sandstone with a chamfered and scroll-stopped oak lintel and includes a spice cupboard. Rooms have chamfered and scroll-stopped axial beams. C17 jowled wall posts were reported but no mention made of the roof construction. Some C17 plank doors. A C18 brick-lined well is now incorporated into the C20 extension. Listing NGR: TQ6139743081