Scores of crews from stations covering the length and breadth of the county worked overnight to tackle the fire at Flood Farm, Hittisleigh, near Drewsteignton on Friday.
Senior South Devon fire officer Andy Rowse praised firefighters for their work and said fire-resistant boarding under the thatch saved the property from being burnt to a shell.
No one was injured, but 30 per cent of the roof was destroyed and the first floor of the two-storey house suffered smoke and water damage.
A fire investigation concluded it was accidental and the cause was a defective chimney flue.
The fire broke out shortly after 7.30pm on Friday.
An elderly couple were in the house at the time but managed to get out. They were not hurt.
Appliances from Moretonhampstead, Bovey Tracey and the compressed air foam appliance from Ashburton initially attended, along with other Devon counterparts.
On their arrival further appliances were deployed from Hatherleigh and Exeter.
They were joined by support units from Exmouth, Exeter, Crediton
Newton Abbot’s retained fire crew were called out shortly before 9.30pm with units from Bideford and Witheridge.
Police, the Red Cross, emergency support services and the Salvation Army lent their support.
A fire break was created within the roof to tackle the blaze and officers were committed inside the building. Thatch was removed so the fire did not spread.
Crews used water from a hydrant half a mile away.
Western Power Distribution isolated the electricity supply to the property.
Officers were able to help the owners salvage some belongings.
By midnight fire crews were damping down hot spots and the incident was scaled down to four appliances from Torquay, Exmouth, Chulmleigh and Princetown.
Station commander Rowse took charge at 1am.
Mr Rowse said: “The crews did a fantastic job in difficult circumstances.
“The cottage had a layer of fire-resistant boarding under the thatch. It worked wonders to save the property.
“So many times firefighters have been to thatch fires where the roof has completely gone and all that’s left is a shell — in this case only 30 per cent of the roof has gone and the damage elsewhere has been minimal.
“The building is virtually still habitable.
“The location was difficult because the house was down a very narrow country lane which gave us challenges getting appliances there and the water hydrant was half a mile away. But everyone worked together very efficiently.”
Crews remained on the scene turning over and damping down with one remaining at the scene all night.
Area manager Nick Manning said the boards enabled firefighters to salvage many of the owners’ possessions and some furniture.
“We managed to save some valuable paintings which the owners were very concerned about because they were family heirlooms,” he said.
Crews remained at the property for most of Saturday.
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