Pontfaen House (Plas Pontfaen and Pontfaen Farmouse)

Pontfaen House comprises two adjoining dwellings: Pontfaen Farmhouse and Plas Pontfaen. It is built of painted render with slate eaves roofs, two storeys and attic. The plan incorporates crosswings at each end, both projecting on the west elevation. The north crosswing is gabled; the south crosswing is hipped at both ends. There are four large ashlar chimney stacks: triple-shafted on the west end and south side of the south crosswing, and double-shafted on the north and south sides of the north crosswing. Single short stacks sit on the main ridge towards the south end and just forward of the ridge towards the north end. The main facade faces east, though the entrance is on the west side.

The east facade features four gables of varying sizes, the largest belonging to the north crosswing, followed by a dormer gable, a gable, and another dormer gable, all with bargeboards and pendant finials. Windows are timber mullioned with transoms at mid-height; most are later 20th-century replacements. The panes are small on Plas Pontfaen but not on Pontfaen Farmhouse.

Pontfaen Farmhouse occupies the first two bays to the left. The roof is hipped at the southeast angle. The first bay has a casement pair to both the dormer gable and first floor, and a 3-light mullion-and-transom window below. The second bay has a 3-light window to the larger gable, a 4-light to the first floor, and two 3-light mullion-and-transom windows below. The south side, a former service entry, has a massive external chimney breast with a triple stack to the right and two small dormers to the left. Two first-floor windows and two single-storey attached ranges enclosing a service court, with hipped south ends, occupy the ground floor. A door connects the ranges. All glazing is late 20th-century; old photographs reveal 2-light windows of late 17th or early 18th-century type on the first floor wallface with leaded lights. The west end of the crosswing, facing the garden, has a large ground floor lean-to with an asbestos-sheet roof, a windowless first floor, and another very large triple chimney on the eaves of the hipped roof.

Plas Pontfaen occupies the right two bays of the east front with more scattered fenestration. The left bay has a 2-light window in the dormer gable, a first-floor 3-light, and two small ground-floor single casements. An intermediate bay has a first-floor 2-light and a ground-floor 2-light with transom, both set at a higher level corresponding with the floor levels of the large crosswing gable to the right, which has 4-light mullion-and-transom windows on each floor. The north end has a 2-light mullion-and-transom window to the ground floor right and a large chimney breast to the left. Steps lead to a basement. The west side has a projecting crosswing to the left with similar bargeboards and pendant: a first-floor 6-light mullion-and-transom window (shown as a 4-light casement in an old photograph) and a large ground-floor canted bay with a hipped slate roof and big 4-light mullion-and-transom window. The south return has a large 2-shaft chimney. A lean-to porch in the angle shelters a large flight of six slate steps leading up to the door in the rear wall of the main range. The porch roof is a late 20th-century copy of the original: a slate pent roof with a flat ceiling within, open on two sides, supported on three cast-iron columns, each side with a shallow timber arch and pendant. Cilgerran stone walls flank the stairs; a balustrade is on the south side. A broad 4-panel door has panelled reveals. Immediately to the right, set high, is a big 4x3 light mullion-and-transom stair-light (with leaded lights in old photographs). The rest of the rear wall to the right is windowless. A small dormer in the centre of the roof, shown in an old photograph, now has 20th-century glazing.

The larger rooms are in Pontfaen Farmhouse at the south end. The southwest kitchen has a massive beam and a 19th-century service staircase with a closed string, turned balusters, and newels with pendants. One long flight ascends and makes a short return at right angles, then a further flight ascends to the attic with square balusters. The ground-floor southeast room has a slate floor and two heavy chamfered axial beams with run-out stops. A large south-end fireplace, now infilled, formerly occupied this space. Steps in the northeast corner descend to a cellar with wrought-iron rails with dog bars. The cellar is slate-paved with slate shelves. The first-floor sitting room has two similar heavy axial chamfered beams. Doors are boarded. The attic contains two oak collar trusses, cased in.

Plas Pontfaen has a single-flight 19th-century stair to the right of the entry, with turned balusters, a closed string, and ball-finials and pendants to the newels, ascending in two flights. The entrance hall runs through to the west front window, which has a fireplace. 4-panel doors feature throughout. The two main ground-floor rooms in the crosswing to the left have 19th-century fireplaces and connecting doors. The two principal first-floor rooms are also in the crosswing, with 4-panel doors and 19th-century detail. The crosswing loft has 19th-century pine trusses. A slate-paved cellar with a kitchen range is located beneath.