Llwyn Helen

Location

Set back from the road behind a walled forecourt and on the S side of Bryn Helen.

History

Built in the early C19 as the service wing of Bryn Helen and shown on the 1834 town plan. Bay windows were added to the rear and lean-tos against the S end in the late C19 and are shown on the 1889 Ordnance Survey. The house was subdivided in the early C20 and is first shown as 2 properties on the 1918 Ordnance Survey.

Exterior

A late Georgian 2-storey 3-window house originally forming the rear service wing of Bryn Helen. Walls are pebble-dashed, with slate roof on wide panelled and bracketed eaves and 2 roughcast stacks. The E-facing front has a central hipped-roof porch, which is half-glazed with trefoiled lights, and has an elliptical arch over a replaced door. It is flanked by a 16-pane hornless sash window to the L and 12-pane to the R. Set slightly back further R is an inserted window. The upper storey also has 12-pane hornless sashes, but the L-hand is set at a higher level, and there is a small inserted casement at the R end.

The L end wall has an added 2-storey lean-to with 4-pane upper-storey sash window and replaced lower storey window. Set back behind this lean-to is another, single-storey lean-to facing the rear, which has a boarded door at basement level. The rear elevation of the house has 2 late C19 canted bay windows on plinths and incorporating 4-pane sashes. At the L end is an inserted door and window. The upper storey has 3 hornless 12-pane sash windows, the R-hand at a higher level, and an additional small 4-pane horned sash window to the L. A gabled dormer to the centre has a 4-pane sash window.

Reason for designation

Listed as a C19 house retaining early character and for group value with Bryn Helen, representing the C19 suburban expansion of the town consequent upon Caernarfon's growth in importance as a port.