Maes Heulyn

Maes Heulyn

A small country house of two storeys plus attics with a single-storey service range projecting at right-angles to the front. The building is constructed of rough-cast brick with sandstone dressings and a steeply-pitched roof of graded Preseli green slates. The end and central chimneys are plain rendered.

The front elevation is asymmetrical, featuring an entrance bay positioned between full-height, advanced, gabled projections. To the left of this bay stands a slightly-projecting single-storey porch with an ashlar surround and a recessed, boarded and studded door. To the right is a tripartite casement window with 8-pane sections, above which sits a similar 4-light window at first-floor level under the eaves. The left flanking projection has 3-light windows to both ground and first floors, with a tall, multi-pane oriel stair-light to the right of these. The upper section of the oriel has additional flanking 8-pane lights, and a 2-light casement occupies the attic gable apex. The right flanking bay contains a 2-light first-floor window and is topped by a flat-roofed, canted dormer to the central attic. To the left of the left-hand gabled bay is a recessed full-height stair tower with a hipped roof and casement windows. Further left is a secondary entrance with a flat, bracketed porch canopy and a part-glazed door.

The rear garden facade comprises six bays. The leftmost features a storeyed, canted bay window with a deeply-verged gabled roof. The second bay has a multi-pane French window with a shaped top and fixed-pane flanking sections; above is a 4-light window under the eaves with a 3-light flat-roofed dormer to the roof. The third bay is a large projecting bay with deep verges and plain bargeboards to its gable, containing a five-light wooden mullioned and transomed window to the ground floor with small-pane glazing, and a projecting 4-light window at first-floor level in the form of a shallow, flat oriel. A hexagonal oculus occupies the gable apex, with 2-light casements to the returns. The remaining bays have 2-light casements at first-floor level, whilst the ground floor of the last two bays is occupied by a modern conservatory extension.

A long single-storey service range adjoins the front facade to the left, beyond the service entrance, and features a 2-light casement at the house end. A garden and forecourt wall continues flush with this range for a short distance before terminating; it incorporates a round-arched garden entrance with a boarded door.

The interior begins with an entrance hall fitted with a simply-moulded cornice, picture rail, and narrow oak floorboards. Simple architraves frame 4-panel doors leading to the parlour (right), dining room (left), and study (opposite the entrance). All doors and windows retain original brass furniture by Gibbons of Wolverhampton. An open dog-leg stair rises to the left of the hall, divided from it by two segmental arches. The left arch features a moulded oak rail and turned oak balusters dating to around 1700, which are reused but original to the Dawber house. The stair proper has geometric Jacobean-style newels and pendants with a handrail and pine turned balusters copying those of oak. An upper balustraded gallery surrounds the stairwell.

The drawing room features a deep classical cornice and decorative foliate plasterwork in shallow relief to the ceiling, formed as a shouldered band around the sides. A multi-coloured marble fireplace has a simply-moulded wooden surround and a simple Adamesque frieze with an acanthus cornice to the mantelpiece. A pair of double doors with three panels each, flanked by 2-pane lead-glazed mullioned windows, leads from the drawing room to the study.

The study contains a simple marble fireplace with a reeded and egg-and-dart frieze and a moulded mantel shelf. The fireplace sides are lined with 17th and 18th-century polychromed Delft bird tiles. The grate is of polished copper and iron. The study has a simple moulded cornice.

The dining room is fitted with a simple moulded cornice and a lugged fireplace of coloured marble featuring egg-and-dart decoration, a fluted frieze with a projecting central section and flanking rosettes, and a blue and white Delft tiled surround with a polished steel hood.

A stick-baluster dog-leg back stair at the end of a service corridor provides secondary access. Original fittings are retained to the front cloakroom and water closet.