History

The house is said to have been built at the end of the C16 by Ellis ap Cadwaladr (b.1557), who had acquired the property from the Crown. The house was later extended with the addition of a wing to the NW. Until remodelling work in the late 1940s, a date inscription of 1729 was visible in a blocked window to the rear of the original range, and a dated stone found in the garden (of 1720) is though to provide the likely date for the additions to the house. The roof of the main range was raised at some time, possibly in the early C19, and the fenestration was probably renewed at about the same period. Various minor alterations (including the insertion of a number of additional windows, and some modifications to the internal arrangement of rooms) were carried out c1946 by J.Egbert Griffiths of Porthmadog.

Exterior

The original building is aligned NE-SW, and is a 2-storeyed, large 2-unit house, with central service room, extended to the NW with a wing housing the stairhall and a further principal room. Rough slate rubble construction, and modern slate roof, with plain overhanging eaves. Rear wall and right hand gable stacks. Main range faces SE, with low and narrow central entrance in roughly semi-circular cyclopaean archway. This aligns with a further entrance in the rear wall (the present entrance). 2 storeys, 4 irregularly spaced 16-pane sash windows to first floor, roughly aligned with lower windows (one on each floor a C20 insertion). Narrow 12-pane sash window alongside doorway, and paired 16-pane sash windows to its right (formerly a tripartite sash window). Stack on rear wall of main range, with 16-pane sash windows on each floor alongside it. Similar windows in gable end. Wing also has 2x16-pane sash windows on each floor in its SW elevation, with doorway to right of centre and single sash windows to right of entrance on each floor, lighting the staircase. Projecting side wall stack to NE elevation of wing, with cellar entrance alongside it, and doorway up steps towards the centre, with panelled door in moulded architrave, inserted c1946; 16-pane sash window above.

Lower extensions to NE of main range, terminating in a higher gabled cross range (probably formerly a stable and loft), with central door and flanking windows in NE elevation, and external staircase to loft doorway in NW gable. The courtyard is enclosed on the NW side by a wash house: single storeyed, with door and single 6-pane sash window to SE elevation, and tall stack on gable end.

Interior

The earliest part of the house comprises a 2 room plan with central service room or wide internal through passage between the main rooms. Run-out stops to chamfered beams in NE room (the present kitchen); heavy beams panel the ceiling of the SW room - the beams and joists all have run-out chamfer stops. Rear wall fireplace incorporates coats of arms in the panelled surround (Collwyn ap Tangno and Owain Gwynedd) - the lower panels (German Renaissance reliefs), and the Delft tiled surround, were inserted c1946. Staircase in rear wing probably dates from the extension and remodelling of the house in 1729 but has almost certainly been realigned since - turned balusters, moulded strings and rail, square newel posts and fielded panelled dado. Massive roof truss in SW section of main range of queen strut and collar type - the present roofline not aligned with it. The 3 trusses of the wing appear to be a later type - Queen Post and collar - and the 2 trusses in the NE part of the main range are similar.

Reasons for Listing

Ystumllyn incorporates an important example of a C16 house, probably one of the first generation of storeyed houses in the region. The C18 extension and alterations also represent high quality vernacular work of the period, and the character of the house remians defined by these 2 principal phases of construction, with only minor subsequent change.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17744110

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)