Glen Hir

Cadw's description

Location

Slightly set back from the road on the E side of Killay. The former stable block is to the NE.

History

Edwardian house built in 1900-10 for John Cleland Napier (1858-1932), an industrialist who came to Swansea from Greenock in Scotland. He owned a number of collieries in the area including the Clyne Valley Collieries and Brickworks. The house was originally named Grianaig and is thought to have been designed by the Swansea architect, Glendinning Moxham. The shutters and hipped swept roofs suggest a French influence, whilst an unusual detail is the insertion of a glass bottle into the apex of each ridge, said to be of champagne.

Exterior

Symmetrical 2-storey house of double depth plan, with advanced central bays to front and rear. Lower service wing to E. Double-skin brick construction faced with original roughcast. Pronounced hipped swept tiled roofs. The apex of each ridge contains the base of a bottle surrounded by a spiral of tiles on edge. Tall rendered stacks, 2 at each end and 1 rising from central valley. Horned sash windows with flat heads and stone sills. The advanced central entrance bay contains double panelled doors in a moulded doorcase under a segmental pediment supported on decorative consoles. Narrow 8-pane sash windows to sides and 3 similar windows to upper storey. Flanking the entrance bay, the main range has pairs of windows, 12-pane sashes to the upper storey and 6-over-9-pane sashes below. All with blue-painted wooden shutters. Garden front to rear of house with advanced bay fronted by a single storey canted bay with flat roof. Central glazed door under a 6-pane overlight approached by stone steps. Sash windows to sides as in front, but missing the lower glazing bars. Flanking the advanced bay are pairs of windows as front, except for a wide tripartite window to the bottom L containing 3 sash windows. All the openings have blue-painted shutters and the lower storey windows have no glazing bars to the lower sashes.
Between the 2 projecting stacks at the W end, is a pair of 12-pane sashes to the upper storey. Below is a 6-over-9-pane sash to the L and a slight projection to the R containing a small hatch, possibly for delivering coal. A lower service wing with half-hipped roof adjoins the E end of the house. It has a half-lit door to the front, no openings to the rear and 3 upper storey windows. A long single-storey range projects from its NE angle. It has a panelled door to the front end, formerly half-lit, and to the E side, 2 half-lit doors with small windows further L.

Interior

The entrance leads to an L-shaped hall. Reception rooms to garden front (S), large billiard room spanning W end of house, and rear staircase immediately next to entrance. The service area, now kitchens, is to the E. The central reception room has decorative plaster panelling and an original moulded wooden fireplace with square head. The other fireplaces have been replaced. Decorative coving throughout. The billiard room has timber beams and joists to the ceiling. Open-well staircase with square panelled newel posts and narrow, closely spaced decorative balusters. The ceilings are high and the walls are unusually thick because of the double-skin construction.

Reason for designation

Listed as an early C20 house of exceptional style and quality, retaining its original character and designed (probably) by a prominent Swansea architect. A good physical reflection of the movement of successful industrialists into this part of Swansea.
Group value with stable and cart-shed.