History

The name P L Lewis and the date 1852 appear on a shield at high level on the north-west elevation. The Lewis family were owners of a previous gentry-status house on this site, with pleasure ground and park. P L Lewis, the rebuilder of Pentre Celyn, was a proprietor of lead mines. The house remained in the Lewis family for the remainder of the C19.

In the C20 the house fell empty but was rescued and served for a time as a hall of residence for students at Llysfasi College. It was later a restaurant. Subsequently the land was sold off and the house again became a private residence.

The house appears essentially all of one date.

Exterior

A large two-storey villa in local limestone ashlar masonry, apart from the rear wing (see below). All dressings, parapets and chimney shafts are in ashlar. Steep slate roofs with coped gables. All chimney shafts are separate, square and diagonal.

The front faces north-west and is symmetrical, with central main entrance and oriel window flanked by two advancing gabled bays, and with a three-arch further-advancing porch. A string course, not returning at the sides, defines the first floor. The gables have copings with kneelers and finials, and the porch has a flat coped parapet above a simple cornice, the parapet raised at centre to display a shield. Each gabled bay has a twelve-pane hornless sash window above and a 15-pane window with similar but unequal sashes below, all with hood moulds. There is a shield at the apex of each gable. These shields appear blank.

The left side elevation overlooks service yards and has an advancing staircase bay with a tall window. At high level is the shield displaying the date and name. The right side (garden) elevation is of two units, the left unit having a large bay window with flat roof and parapet and a single window above; the right unit having three windows above and below, the centre being an advancing gabled bay with an oriel above. The rear elevation has a large blank gable with projecting stack and one window at right above and below.

The rear T-shaped service wing appears to be contemporary with the main part of the house. It is in similar masonry apart from the south-east and north-east sides and its chimney stack which are in limestone rubble. This part has two modern rooflights and a modern dormer window, irregularly disposed original hornless sash windows and one modern steel-casement window. Single-storey domestic offices around service yard, including modern garage.

Interior

The plan is based on a large central hall, with main stairs, serving ground and first floors only, to left. At the front the left room is a dining room and the right room a drawing room. The kitchen is to the rear of the stairs at left, leading off to the lesser service rooms in the north east wing. There is a second staircase, serving all floors from cellar to attic, off the kitchen. There is a second stairway to the cellar from the front part of the house. The cellar contains several brick-vaulted spaces; its entrance from the service wing has been walled up.

The main reception rooms feature boldly moulded cornices, not over-elaborate; boxed shutters to most windows; figured marble fireplaces. The main staircase is in hardwood, with a swept handrail ending in a coil above curtail steps, bracketted treads. The servants' staircase off the kitchen is of utilitarian design.

Built-in Gothic style bookcases in dining room. Swag frieze below cornice in drawing room; plaster centre leaf feature for light hanging. Slate flag floor has been revealed in kitchen.

Reasons for Listing

A very well preserved early Victorian neo-Elizabethan villa of exceptional character, illustrating the C19 planning for segregation of family and staff.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29502161

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

• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)