Eastfield Farm Melchbourne
Eastfield Farmhouse was listed by English Heritage in August 1983 as Grade II, of special interest. It dates from the mid-19th century and is built of coursed limestone rubble with a slated roof. The main body of the house has a double pile plan, that is two parallel roofs over the building.
The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting the farm [DV1/H38/38] found that, like most of the parish, it was owned by Lord Saint John of Bletsoe. The tenant, W Measures, paid rent of £590 per annum for 358 acres including two cottages. The rent was high because it also included Inn Farm and Crowfield Farm. The land extended into the parishes of Dean and Swineshead as well as Melchbourne.
The farmhouse comprised five reception rooms, two kitchens, a scullery and a dairy with nine bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. There was also a cellar, a WC and a garage. The homestead comprised brick and slate buildings as follows: a cowhouse for twenty; two loose boxes; a coal house; a garage; two henhouses; a chaffhouse with a loft over; an eight bay hovel; two barns; an open hovel; a loose box; six piggeries; a mixing house; a five bay hovel; another chaffhouse; a third chaffhouse, with a loft over; a stable for ten horses; another loose box; a mixing house used as a store; a three bay cart shed; a four bay open hovel; another loose box; a sheep hovel with no roof; a five bay implement shed and a coachhouse and harness room with a loft over.
The house was for sale again in 1995. The particulars [Z449/1/16] stated: "Eastfield Farm House was constructed in the mid-19th Century of Limestone under a slated roof. The property is Grade II listed and has retained external features which include French windows with semi-circular heads to the front elevation and a fan light inter-laced with glazing bars above the front door. Internally, character features include quarry tiled and stripped pine flooring, period fireplaces in the main rooms as well as pine internal doors, skirting boards and other joinery. In the past six years, the farm house and the cottage have been the subject of extensive renovation and improvements including the addition of two conservatories to take advantage of the superb countryside views. the cottage is presently separated from the farmhouse on the ground floor but could easily be integrated by opening up the former doorways from the hall". The ground floor comprised: an entrance hall; an inner hallway; a rear porch; a drawing room measuring 19 feet 2 inches by 16 feet 8 inches; a dining room measuring 20 feet 3 inches by 15 feet 9 inches; a conservatory measuring 18 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 6 inches; a kitchen/breakfast room measuring 19 feet 2 inches by 15 feet 4 inches; a utility room measuring 14 feet 3 inches by 12 feet 10 inches and a cloakroom. Beneath was a cellar measuring 19 feet by 14 feet 9 inches. There was a first floor landing, three bedrooms (two with en-suite bathrooms) and a main bathroom. Outside was a cottage and also a range of farm buildings around the former stock yard.