Plas Isaf

Cadw's description

Location

Set back slightly from the SE side of the B5382 at the NE end of the small hamlet of Bryn Rhydyrarian.

History

Late C16 2-storey farmhouse, lateral chimney and inside cross passage plan; originally of two units (hall and inner room) the partition between the two units was removed in the mid C20. The house was extended by the addition of a storeyed wing to the W and a hipped-roofed single-storey wing was added to the N end in the mid C20. A C14 sepulchral slab serves as a lintel over the main door. The slab is thought to have been brought from the parish church, probably at the restoration which took place in 1777; the main doorway (and slab lintel) was moved to its present position from its original site at the N end of the older part of the farmhouse.

The elaborately moulded door, said to be of Italian origin and possibly of C17 date, is thought, by the present owners, to have been brought from Plas Newydd, home to the 'Ladies of Llangollen'; taken from there by General Wynne Yorke and passed down to the Salesbury family of Dyffryn Aled before being hung at Plas Isaf.

Exterior

C16 and later 2-storey farmhouse. Originally a 2-unit cross passage house with lateral chimney, extended to the right (S) and by the addition of a W wing (to front) to form a T-plan; a mid C20 hipped roofed extension added to the left (N) end. Built of rubble masonry, limewashed, with a roof of old small slates; rendered gable stacks at N and S, and a large projecting lateral stack to rear. The roofline of the W wing is at a slightly lower level to that of the main house and its W wall has been built on a rubble plinth, the entrance to the house re-sited in its S wall. A C14 sepulchral slab serves as a lintel over the main door; incised with a wheel cross of four circle type, the circles are interlaced with a quatrefoil, the arms of the cross terminate in trefoils and a trefoil is enclosed within each circle, at the angles of the quatrefoil. There is a triangular pedestal to the base of the cross shaft, with stepped sides and a twisted design above, a sword lies beside the stem. Hung in the doorway is an elaborately moulded, panelled wooden door, each panel bearing intricate designs of figures, faces and garlands. The front (W) elevation of the main house has a 12-pane ground floor light with a 2-light, small paned, horizontally sliding sash window over at the left (N) end, the 1st floor has a 9-pane casement to the right (S); the W wall of the W wing has a 2-light, small paned, horizontally sliding sash window to each storey. The rear elevation has vertically sliding sash windows at the left (S) end; ground floor has two 12-pane horned sashes, 1st floor has a small 4-pane horned sash offset above the northernmost of the two and has a tiled sill. To the right (N) end of the main house the 1st floor windows are set directly under the eaves, a single 12-pane horizontally sliding sash window to each side of the projecting lateral stack; the ground floor has a tall, 24-pane light to the left (S), with timber lintel, and a more recent 12-pane light to the right (N). The hipped roofed extension at the N end of the house has rendered elevations, a modern slate roof and modern casements throughout; French windows to front and rear.

Interior

The oldest part of the house has exposed joists and ceiling beams, and the RCAHM suggest that there is an arch-braced roof to the 1st floor, reputedly infilled at the apex with cusped struts, but these are now hidden by a modern ceiling. Ground floor fireplaces have massive timber bressumers with slightly elliptical chamfered soffits.

Reason for designation

Listed as an excellent example of a late C16 farmhouse of strong vernacular character. The house retains original interior features from the late C16 and much of the fenestration of a late C18 refurbishment. The doorway is of particular historic interest, with C14 sepulchral slab as lintel, and highly ornate carved wooden door of Italian origin and reputedly from Plas Newydd, home to the 'Ladies of Llangollen'.