Borth Wen

Borth Wen is a substantial farmhouse built in the 18th century, demonstrating Georgian vernacular architectural styles. It is a two-story, three-window farmhouse with a two-story back-kitchen, forming an L-shaped plan. A lean-to addition sits at the west end of the main domestic wing, and a lean-to porch is located on the north side. The main part of the house is constructed from local rubble masonry, with rendered elevations facing east and north. The south and west walls are slate hung. The roof is covered in small, old slates, heavily grouted, with a tiled ridge, coping, and gable stacks featuring dripstones and tiled capping.

The east-facing principal elevation has a three-window range with a central doorway. All openings have shallow cambered heads, and the windows are 16-pane sashes with slate sills. The front door is boarded, with a small, rectangular five-pane overlight. The west-facing rear elevation has a similar arrangement of windows, plus a two-pane sash stair window positioned centrally, in the angle where it meets the back-kitchen wing. Six-pane sash windows are visible in the gable elevation facing the road.

The rear service wing is a two-window range with a doorway to the left (east) side, sheltered by a lean-to porch. The north elevation is of un-rendered stone. A ground floor eight-pane sash window is on the right (west) side, with a cambered stone voussoir head. Smaller four- and six-pane sash windows are set directly under the eaves on the first floor. The rear (south) elevation has a ground floor six-pane sash window to the left (west) and a small, single-paned fixed light set under the eaves to the right.

The lean-to addition at the west end of the main domestic wing includes a narrow doorway under a timber lintel in the north wall, which is partially blocked with brick.

Inside, the main range features a narrow central stair hall, with a living room extending to the left (formerly two rooms with a smaller room at the rear); a parlour is situated to the right, with a pantry behind it. The stairs are offset to the rear left. Irregularities in the ground plan, and the survival of a stop-chamfered beam in the living room, suggest earlier origins, possibly as a hall and parlour plan with a cross passage. The main entrance and the doorway to the rear wing remain aligned, indicating the cross passage. All rooms retain moulded six-panel doors; the door to the pantry is of simpler design. The stairs split at the end of the main flight, with a short flight leading to a room at the back of the house, two steps leading to a room above the back-kitchen (accessed by a 20th-century boarded door), and the main stair returning to the right. There are three bedrooms leading off an upper landing. The back-kitchen includes a short screen to the right of the back door. A wide bressumer sits above the inglenook fireplace, with a central cross-beam. All timbers have been boxed in.