The farmhouse was developed into Mill Barn and adjoins the Orchard Barn as a neighbouring and separate private property. Orchard Barn itself was originally the old farm cow byre on the lower floor housing concrete milking cubicles with 2 entry points (now the front door and the French doors in the drawing room) with a very old Elmwood hay manger running the length of the byre. The upper floor was a hayloft with an old wooden steps leading up to a vast storage area where hay and cattle fodder were originally kept together with several Elm wood chutes originally used for the hay to be tossed below to the hungry cows. These chutes have been kept, treated and recycled and are now used as feature sills on all the ground floor windows and one or two bear an unusual twist and they all have character and antiquity adding soul to the refurbished property. The history is in every detail.
Similarly the original load bearing main internal elm wood beams have also been removed, treated and are now refitted for purely cosmetic function down stairs in all rooms, and many of the old roof rafters have been recycled and are evident in all bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs.
Adjoining Orchard Barn is another old barn with history. It originally housed farm implements and machinery (tractor, plough, carts etc.) and has two large granite upright pillars supporting an open front to enable access for the carts and implements. This barn has been converted to house an old Cider Press which was rescued from another farm in Black Dog near Honiton some 25 years ago and, together with its original apple crusher and other various ancillary equipments is housed at one end of the barn and now restored and fully operational.
The remainder of the Cider Press Barn has been kept as an area for entertaining, housing a BBQ, a large teak table with benches and a couple of old comfy sofas to curl up in – it has a very rustic French feel with the cob walls, granite pillars, exposed wood beams, red brick tiles and open faced on two sides offering extensive views down the River Teign one way and up the Valley to the West the other.
The old calf rearing food shed adjoining now houses a 50 gallon oak cider barrel. Cider Pressing occurs in Oct annually and the apple juice ferments slowly over winter maturing and becoming palatable in the Spring……guests are welcome to sample when available and at its prime (usually late March to mid July annually).
The old calf rearing sheds remain a rustic array of black wriggly tin roofed stowage space which houses the owner’s quarters and workshop.