Colstrope Farm is now the principal farmstead of this small hamlet in the middle of the Hambleden valley, whose name goes back to Scandinavian or Germanic settlers. The C18^th, double-pile brick farmhouse forms one side of a large fold yard with 3 barns, cowsheds, a bullpen and stables. Barn II has the date 1739 scribed on the post adjoining the threshing floor. The materials used are brick & flint and weatherboarding, the trusses have queen struts and clasped purlins.

An interesting feature of the house is an external stair turret, which provides direct access to the loft from the ground floor back kitchen (itself a later extension), without there being any access to the main body of the house from it – so not the traditional back stairs as seen in many 18^th/19^th century houses. The dwelling house is served by the principal stairs within it and accessed by its central passageway. Was the direct access to the loft used for important storage, i.e. seed corn?  Or designated for separate male farmhands’ accommodation?