History

Built as a villa by the Mansel family and described as ''''newly erected'''' in 1816, replacing an earlier house on the site. The original house was W facing and had a rear garden front with a canted bay window. It is shown in this form on the 1839 Tithe map, at which time the house was owned by John Walter Philipps of Aberglasney. The villa was enlarged in the 1850s by William Wesley Jenkins, architect of London. He added N and S cross wings, the latter incorporating a new S entrance front with a porch-cum-tower in the Scots baronial style. The house is shown in this form on the 1887 Ordnance Survey. The entrance was modified in the 1950s, when the tower was taken down, and at the same time interior fittings were brought from Derry Ormond in Ceredigion, which was demolished in 1953.

Exterior

A late Georgian style 2-storey house comprising a central range with N and S cross wings, of whitened rendered walls, hipped slate roofs to the principal elevations, gabled roofs to the service elevation, and rendered and brick stacks. The main entrance is in the S cross wing and forms a asymmetrical 7-bay front with a central entrance in an advanced bay remodelled in the 1950s. The bays to the L of centre have a lower eaves line and comprise service rooms and the principal rooms are to the R. The central doorway is framed by pilasters and pediment, and has panelled reveals and double glazed doors. The window above has an architrave and 12-pane sash window. To the R of centre is a 9-pane upper-storey window, then a projecting pedimented bay with 9-pane horned sash window in the upper storey above French doors. The R end bay has only an upper-storey 9-pane sash window. To the L of centre is a 12-pane sash window in the lower storey and 9-pane window above, then a blind projecting bay with pediment (narrower than the corresponding bay on the R-hand side), while the L end bay has 12-pane and 9-pane sash windows in lower and upper storeys.

In the E garden front the 3-bay central range is under a separate hipped roof on bracketed eaves, and constitutes the original house, with the higher cross wings added in the 1850s brought well forward. In the central range the lower-storey openings have plain architraves, the upper-storey openings keyed architraves. A central full-height canted bay window has 12-pane horned sash windows in the upper storey, hornless in the lower storey with central French doors. The outer bays have 12-pane horned sash windows, except lower L which is a hornless sash. The cross wings have plat bands, hipped canted bays in the lower storey with French doors, and tripartite 2-pane upper-storey sash windows under corbelled cornices.

The N elevation of the N cross wing has a plat band to the L side. On the L side are French doors lower L and 2 4-pane sash windows in the upper storey. To the R of centre is a 16-pane sash window in the lower storey with a replaced door to its L, and in the upper storey a 12-pane hornless sash window with similar but smaller window to its R. The courtyard elevation on the W side comprises the gabled N cross wing brought forward, 2 gables in the central range, and the S cross wing projecting further forward under a hipped roof. The S wing has a half-lit doorway to the L in the lower storey, sash windows and replaced attic dormer window. A flat-roof projection is added to its L side. To the L of this is a doorway in an added small gabled porch between the 2 gables in the central range. The R-hand gable also has a boarded attic opening. The N wing has a half-lit door in its side wall. Windows are small-pane sashes.

Interior

The entrance opens into a long hall with the principal rooms on the R and service rooms on the L. Inside the entrance are 2 bays of elliptical arches, on the R-hand the second of which opens to the drawing room in the S cross wing. This has panelled reveals and an internal doorcase with scrolled pediment. The room has classical cornices and neo-classical fireplace surround. The second room on the R, in the earlier central range, is plainer but has a similar fireplace. Near the end of the hall is a straight stair with moulded cast iron balusters and wreathed wooden hand rail. The room at the end of the hall, now a billiard room, is in the N cross wing and has a marble fireplace surround. The principal rooms retain panelled shutters.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its architectural interest as a small country house retaining C19 character and detail.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29504148

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

• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)