Aberllech

Aberllech is a country house, likely dating to the 18th century, constructed of painted roughcast with a slate roof and stuccoed corniced end wall chimneys. Small modillions adorn the eaves cornice. The main facade is three storeys high and features a three-window arrangement with hornless sash windows. The upper floor has 6-pane windows, the first floor has 12-pane windows with slightly cambered heads. The ground floor includes two fine tripartite windows in a Palladian style, with 4-pane side-lights and a central 12-pane sash featuring radiating bars to the arched head. A central panelled door, topped with a radiating-bar fanlight, is set within a timber doorcase featuring plain pilasters, entablature blocks, and an open pediment, with panelled reveals. A low basement opening is visible in the plinth, and the right end wall is windowless. A rear wing is present with a painted stucco end stack and two 6-pane attic windows and two 12-pane first-floor windows, which are not aligned with those above but have a door and window below, accessed via a large 20th-century gabled porch.

The house’s plan incorporates a central hall with stairs within a stair tower. To the left is a former parlour, and to the right a dining room (now a sitting room). The rear wing contains service stairs behind the front range, with a kitchen beyond, and a narrow dairy and pantry in a rear outshut. The entrance hall features a cornice with oak leaf and foliage moulding, and its segmental arch has undercut moulding. A staircase from around 1780 is notable for its continuous handrail, slim turned balusters, and large scrolls on the ends of the treads. A 6-panel door leads to the former dining room, which contains a 19th-century marble chimney-piece. An unusual sideboard recess is present on the back wall, with an elliptical arch supported by fluted pilasters, deep capitals made of lacy pierced fretwork, and two upper scrolls. The window has panelled shutters and panelled reveals. The parlour to the left of the hall has an inserted 19th-century marble fireplace, panelled shutters, and a plaster ceiling cove with small scrolls and leaf moulding. Service stairs are positioned to the rear, above the cellar stairs. The kitchen features a broad fireplace with stone voussoirs to the arch, flat with curved angles, and a high ceiling with two large chamfered beams.

The first-floor landing has three 6-panel doors. Bedrooms on either side are characterised by simple Adam-style fireplaces. A fielded-panel door provides access to the rear wing. A bathroom contains an oak beam, and a bedroom, accessed by steps, has two plastered beams. A rear staircase leading to the attic has a closed string, square balusters, and square newels. A rear room under the outshut roof served as a wool room, and contained triple purlins. A small shelved room functioned as a cheese room. The cellar is accessed by 11 stone steps, leading to two stone-flagged rooms, one containing wine bins and the other a low stone shelf around the perimeter.