Borthwen

Borthwen is a sub-medieval storeyed vernacular house of roughly T-plan. The house dates to the late medieval period and has been altered over time. Constructed of whitened rubble with slate roofs, it features three paired, off-set chimneys and a further single, off-set stack. The house comprises a central primary range with an advanced, gabled cross-wing to the left and a continuously-roofed addition to the right.

The front (southeast) elevation has a primary entrance to the left of the central section, located in the angle with the left-hand advanced block. The entrance is topped by a slate lintel inscribed with the initials M I I J and the date 1758, and it features a part-glazed, multi-pane door with a 20th-century glazed canopy above. A three-light window is positioned to the right of the entrance. The first floor of this central block contains two eight-pane sashes with marginal glazing, set within shallow gabled dormers. The left-hand gabled bay has a large three-light, multi-pane window on the ground floor and a twelve-pane sash with marginal glazing above, embellished with scalloped bargeboards. The right-hand section has a four-light window on the ground floor, a cross-window beyond, and a modern, part-glazed door to the far right, accompanied by a plain light to its left. The upper floor of the right-hand section features two three-light windows and a modern two-light window to the far right, with plain glazing throughout.

The rear elevation mirrors the front, with marginally-glazed twelve-pane sashes to the right-hand advanced cross-wing, again with scalloped eaves. A two-storey gabled stair projection extends from the angle between the central block and the main range, featuring a boarded gable and a nine-pane sash on the first floor. A single-storey porch is situated on the left section, with a multi-pane window to the front and an entrance on the left return. Further modern windows are located on the ground and first floors to the left, alongside a boarded entrance to the far left.

Inside, the former hall of the primary house section retains an exposed beamed ceiling, of the stopped-chamfered type. A contemporary wide fireplace of inglenook form is also present, featuring an oak bressummer (later reshaped) and 19th-century bread oven insertions. A dog-leg oak staircase, believed to date from around 1700, has flat, shaped balusters, original oak treads, and risers; the handrail and decorative newel post represent mid-19th century alterations. Adjacent to the staircase is a section of late 16th- or early 17th-century post-and-panel partition which was removed from Plas Newydd, Lower Minffordd, in the 20th century.