Description

TL 41 SW HUNSDON STANSTEAD ROAD
(south side)

2/4 Olives Farm house
(Formerly listed as
4.12.51 Olives Farmhouse) )
along track 220 metres
from road

GV II*

House. C15 open hall house with sooted roof, floor and chimney
inserted in early C17, kitchen wing added at NE in later C17,
extended to rear in early C18, single storey and cellar extension
on S end in early C19. Timberframed plastered house with steep
pitched, old red tile, gabled roofs. Red brick low early C19
extension at S with hipped roof. 2 storeys, 4 windows house
facing W. Double-pile plan produced by additions to C15 front
range. Layout of continuous axial crown post roof suggests a 2
storeys parlour bay to N of a 2-bay hall (heavily soot
blackened), a narrow bay for the cross passage with a wide
service bay at S end, probably of 2 storeys. Open truss of hall
mutilated and collar purlin cut for inserted C17 brick chimney in
N bay of hall. This has no fireplace for the parlour which then
became a dairy and the kitchen was subsequently built alongside
in the later C17. This was extended southward to complete the
double-pile plan in the early C18. W front is partly symmetrical -
about the door with 1 window on each side. More irregular at N
part, with windows not in line. Flush box sash windows with
louvred shutters and 3/6 panes on 1st floor. Triple sashes on
Ground floor with 2/2:6/6:2/2 panes. Broad architrave to door
early C18 moulded and carved. Flush panelled externally, the 6-
panel door has ovolo mouldings with 2 fillets and heavy iron
hinges inside. Rustic gabled porch. Repairs to N wall revealed
close studding with tension bracing, and long straight down
bracing from crown post to tie beam (photograph at farm). N wall
of kitchen refaced in brick. 3-light leaded casement window on
1st floor. Similar Ground floor window with wooden casements.
Rear door half-glazed with heavy ovolo moulded glazing bars and
enriched moulded architrave. Heavy 8-panelled ovolo moulded
inner door with raised and fielded panels on inner face. Hall
fireplace partially blocked, and 2 cross beams to carry inserted
floor. Part of E side wall cut away and cast iron column
inserted. Axial beams in both end rooms. Upper room at N end
has lower floor level, C17 axial ceiling beam with chamfered
joists, and a blocked 3-light window on the front wall at the N
end, with head mortices for diamond mullions. Signs of a
corresponding window on rear wall in corner staircase. Plain
tall square crown posts with deep curved braces to collar purlin
only. Dovetail lap joints of collars to rafters on N side of
each couple. Remains of timberframed smoke hood around upper
part of brick chimney. John Olive obtained land in the parish in
1344. The first known owner of the house was John Shelley, a
London mercer who died in 1486, who held it of Waltham Abbey.
His wife's brass is in the church (HLHS (1979) 33 and additional
information from Miss Palmer at Olives Farm). An important early
timberframed house of exceptional interest for its crown post
roof and for parlour, hall and service bay being arranged axially
under a single gabled roof. (RCHM (1911) 128a: HLHS (1979) 33:
RCHM Typescript).

Listing NGR: TL4080712652

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17553654

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

• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)