Causeway House lies in the Northumberland National Park at the side of the road leading down to the Roman Fort of Vindolanda. It is a rare surviving example of a building thatched with heather, a feature once fairly common in upland areas and is now the only one left in Northumberland.
The house and its adjoining buildings were built in 1770, the date marked on the carved shield at the centre of the front door lintel. It was possibly built for the Thompsons of Tow House - it was common to put a husband and wife’s initials on their new house and this could be the T R.A in the plaque.
Aligned east-west, facing south, Causeway House comprises a two-storeyed main block, with, on the left, a byre and granary above, and a single-storeyed attached stable/loose box on the right. Its walls are constructed of neatly coursed sandstone, with the corners tied by alternating quoins, which project slightly from the wall face, as do the plain architraves of the doors and windows. The gabled roof has triangular sandstone blocks set like reversed crowsteps to form the verge. The roof pitch is steep at 50º, a common feature of thatched structures and necessary to ensure effective drainage.
The house itself was comprised of a ground floor kitchen/living room with a single front window providing the natural lighting downstairs. This is a tall 4-pane sash window set into an opening which has clearly been increased in size at some stage. Upstairs there was a chamber divided into two with one window for the landing and one for the bedroom.
Against the gable wall stands a kitchen range surrounded by a plain lintel and jambs. The range bears the date 1912 and was supplied by John Liddel and Sons of Haltwhistle. The oven, on the right, is set above the level of the fire which is a common feature on northern English ranges.
The upstairs chamber was divided into two rooms by a plank partition set up against the roof truss. Both rooms had planked wainscotting covered with wallpaper. To the right of the chimney breast was a built-in cupboard lined with sheets of the Newcastle Journal of 27th May 1947.
From the landing, a flap could be lowered over the stairwell thus allowing access to the granary via the simple plank door in the dividing wall. This room is lit by a single sash window and has a loading door in the west gable. There are three internally splayed slit vents in the rear wall. Surprisingly the foot of the principal roof truss sits directly above the window. The rafters are made from branches or roughly spit sections of tree trunk nailed onto the horizontal purlins. Some are full length reaching from wall to ridge, while in other places there are two levels of rafters, all set close together.
Underneath the granary is the byre, with a north-south through passage and stalling for 12 cattle. The concrete flooring is raised above the central walkway, down which runs a groove to drain urine out through the front door. Ventilation is again provided by slits in the walls