Penhein

Cadw's description

Location

About 1100m north of the village of Llanvair Discoed approached up a private drive off the Shirenewton road.

History

The house is an early C19 villa, built possibly on the site of an earlier house, with a Reptonesque landscaped park. It is said to have been built in 1813 (the owner says 1816 but has no evidence) by Samuel Brooks who is recorded on his tombstone in the churchyard of the Church of St Mary in Llanvair Discoed as having died in 1839. The house was bought in 1864 by the present owner's great grandfather and he rebuilt, enlarged and refitted it in 1876. It has been very little changed since then.

Exterior

A large two storeyed villa of a standard Regency type with added Italianate features of 1876. It is a rectangular block, built possibly in two stages, with two small service wings projecting on the north side. It is built of rendered rubble stone with Welsh slate roofs. The principal elevation faces east and has an octagonal tower of 1876 added onto the south east corner, and a two storey porch in the centre, also added in 1876. The porch has a plain door and narrow windows in either side wall. Above the doorway are paired arched sashes, very narrow, with 2 over 2 lights, with a stone pier between, and a stringcourse at impost level. Above this is a shallow hipped roof with deep eaves on paired brackets. To the left of the door is one 6 over 6 pane sash and to the right are two more; this is repeated on the first floor but the porch is flanked by additional narrow sashes. The deep eaves on paired brackets go right round the building. At the right hand end of this elevation is a projecting service wing, two storeyed, but with a lower eaves line. This wing is blind to the main front. The octagonal tower does not have equal sides but is a square with the corners chamfered off. It has windows only on the south east face, one 6 over 6 sash on each floor; plain stack attached. To the left on the south elevation are two more sashes on each floor. The west front has five unevenly arranged windows on each floor, a modern timber sun lounge has been attached to the south end of this. Plain stack above the sunlounge. The north front is the service yard and kitchen with features arranged at random.

Interior

The c1820 planning is still reasonably evident but the alterations of 1876 prevail except for the staircase which is a standard stick baluster Regency one with a mahogany handrail. Otherwise almost all the joinery is Victorian although a number of rooms have their Regency proportions, for example the Drawing Room, Dining Room and Kitchen. Tiled floors have been introduced on the ground floor, as have Victorian fireplaces. The porch is shown to be an addition of 1876 as it opens onto a passage; the original front door must have been to the left of it. The upper floor rooms are largely featureless.

Reason for designation

Included for its architectural interest as an early C19 villa with landscaped park which was developed into a larger Victorian house in 1876.