History

Gentry house, also known as Glanusk, built in 1822 for John Christie of the Brecon Forest Tramway. The new turnpike road and bridge over the Senni were built in 1820 and the Brecon Forest Tramway was terminated opposite Glanusk in the 1820s. The core of the house of two storeys and three bays, double-pile, was extended c. 1830 with an unusual oval drawing-room at one end and dining-room at the other, possibly to designs by Robert Lugar. Owned by A. M. Story in 1842 and later by the Story-Maskelyne family. Miss Agnes Maskelyne in 1880. There were late C19 alterations, the house was apparently reoriented to face E instead of W with new porch, dated 1898. Occupied by Roger Jeffreys-Powell in 1926.

Exterior

Country house, white-painted stucco with paired brackets to slate deep-eaved roofs. E front has two-storey three-bay original house in centre, with roughcast end-wall stacks. Large 12-pane sashes and centre door in columned stucco porch of 1898. Half-glazed late C19 double doors and overlight. The porch is large with outer columns on pedestals carrying a deep frieze and cornice with mutules (one of them with 1898 date) and is infilled with wide double half-glazed doors, side lights and top lights, and also with glazing at sides.
To right, projecting is addition with slightly higher matching eaves to hipped roof, first floor tripartite 4-8-4-pane hornless sash and ground floor tripartite plate glass sash with cornice over on moulded consoles. To left is addition of c. 1830, rectangular but with recessed quarter-round curves at the two angles SE and SW, and matching brackets to flat eaves. The E side has a first floor square 6-pane sash, the S end has two similar over two large French windows and the W side has a similar 6-pane sash over a similar French window. A contemporary veranda extends right around and continues across the W front of the original house. The veranda is an ornate trellis work with trellised uprights and trellised cambered heads to each bay with sunburst bars in the spandrels. Glazed roof to veranda only over the two S windows, slate elsewhere, curving to follow the two angle curves. Stone paving within veranda. The original W front is three-bay like the E front with roughcast end-wall stacks and similar eaves. Plain centre half-glazed door with overlight. The slates of this roof slope are exceptionally large. A single storey service range extends N from the N end, with tall stuccoed ridge chimney. The service court is screened from the E entrance front by a curving rubble stone wall of squared stone with arched niche.

Interior

Entrance hall occupies two-thirds of original front range, with plain chimney-piece on S wall and ceiling border of square mutules separated by panels. On W wall there is a broad recess with basket arch on pilasters, to left of doorway through to W range. Six-panel door. Panelled shutters. Study to N has 6-panel door, similar chimney-piece and cornice of ribboned fasces and vine. The added drawing room is a fine and unusual room, near oval with fireplace on N wall, moulded plaster cornice with thick bead-and-reel moulding and Greek revival ceiling border. Swirled acanthus ceiling rose. Chimneypiece is marble with moulded piers and paterae roundels above. Very fine late C19 fireplace tiles by William de Morgan and big gilded overmantel mirror. Four 6-panel doors symmetrically disposed. Elliptical-arched recess on E wall. N end dining-room has grey marble fireplace and 6-panel doors. Plain W front room.

Reasons for Listing

Included for its special architectural interest as a late Georgian country house with good interiors.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29507497

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.

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