Chantry

Cadw's description

Location

On the NE side of the village on an elevated site overlooking the village centre.

History

Portmeirion was designed and laid out by the celebrated architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) following his purchase of the estate, then called Aber Iâ, in 1926. The village evolved over several decades and was still being added to in the 1970s.

The Chantry was built in 1937 and was initially intended for the painter Augustus John; the design included a studio for him on the top floor. John, However, never used Chantry. The house was featured in 1938 in a book by H.M. Wright called `Small Houses £500-£2,500', where its cost was estimated at £1,500.

Exterior

A tall building of town hall character having 3 storeys plus attic. Rendered elevations with wide eaves and hipped pantile roof with surmounting turret, the latter with roof of gabled mansard type and urn finial; imitation clock face to the front. The village-facing (SW) elevation is in 2 parts, with the 3-storey westernmost bay recessed. This has an arched multi-pane ground-floor window with 12-pane sash to the first floor and 6-pane sash under the eaves above. The remaining part has 3 tall, round-headed windows divided into 2 storeys; multi-pane glazing. Twelve-pane, 2-part casement to the attic floor above, contained within a hipped dormer. The SE elevation has 12-pane sashes to the first floor and a flat-roofed dormer to the attic with 3-part casement; part-glazed entrance to the ground floor stepped-up via a metal stair and with tripartite window to the L.

The rear (NE) elevation is studiedly asymmetrical. It has a recessed bay to the R with entrance to the L and sashes, as before, on three storeys to the R; the entrance has an applied wooden baroque doorcase and small-pane glazed door. The advanced left-hand section has a recessed loggia to the ground floor, the upper floors jettied out above and supported on a cast iron column at the corner. The third floor is further jettied with a sloped soffit. Small 4-, 6- and 12-pane windows with a large 12-pane sash to the upper floor. This has a segmental iron balcony in front and a segmental fan above. A small lean-to store projects to the front L, its return flush with the SE elevation; boarded doors. The whole building sits upon a partly arcaded plinth built into the hillside.

Reason for designation

Listed as a particularly well-conceived house in eclectic Arts and Crafts style; one of a number of buildings and structures designed by the eminent architect and conservationist Sir Clough Williams-Ellis for his visionary Portmeirion villiage.

Group value with other listed items at Portmeirion.