Llethr Cadfan Farmhouse including former 'granary' building

Llethr Cadfan Farmhouse

A large two-and-a-half-storey farmhouse consisting of two distinct building phases, constructed in different centuries yet integrated into a single complex. The farm was graded as II* on the historic register.

The earlier block, dating to the late 16th century, occupies the left (south) side and was formerly listed separately as the 'granary'. It is built of rubble stone, with the front elevation painted white, and is roofed in steeply pitched graded stone tiles. It features an octagonal stone chimney stack to the right and a more complex polygonal stack to the left. The later 17th-century block to the right (north) is lower in profile and has roughcast walls beneath a steep slate roof. It contains ridge stacks at the centre and right end, and a distinctive tall tapering stone stack rising from the eaves on the left side, heightened in brick.

A 17th-century two-storey porch, centrally positioned between the two blocks in the front elevation, provides the primary entrance. The porch has a segmental-headed doorway with a replaced door, above which sits a four-pane pivoting window. A former recess once contained a tablet bearing a coat of arms, though this is no longer visible beneath the roughcast. The hipped roof rests on a plain corbel table. To the right of the porch are margin-lit two-pane sash windows on each storey, set back slightly from the main elevation. The remainder of the front is brought forward, flanking the tall eaves stack. It features two-pane margin-lit sash windows to the left of centre on both storeys, a ribbed door at lower right, and a two-pane sash at an intermediate level above it.

The right gable end is asymmetrical with two attic windows: the right-hand example is blocked but retains a drip mould, while the left-hand is a fixed light beneath a wooden lintel. Below these sits an attached farm building. The rear of the 17th-century block has an outshut added to an original stair projection, from which a small narrow light remains visible in the side wall.

The 16th-century block is set back from the later porch. Its lower storey contains a wide inserted segmental-headed doorway with double 19th-century boarded doors, and a boarded door with an inserted window to the right. A small ventilation strip on the left side represents the only original opening in this storey. The upper storey is dominated by a pair of four-light windows with wooden ovolo mullions, drip moulds and relieving arches. Both were originally transomed windows; the left-hand example survives virtually intact, while the right-hand retains only the upper lights and transom, with a doorway inserted below to allow direct access to the first floor, likely for farm workers' accommodation. The right side displays another relieving arch over a blocked window containing a smaller inserted window, whilst the left side shows a blocked corresponding window retaining a hood mould.

The left gable end bears the shadow of a former lower two-storey wing, which features pigeon holes in the wall. The rear elevation is dominated by the great-chamber stack, positioned left of centre and rising from a gable above the eaves with an octagonal shaft. The lower storey contains a wide blocked opening right of centre beneath a segmental head with voussoirs, into which a smaller window has been inserted. At the right end is a small ventilation strip serving a recess beside the kitchen fireplace. The left side has a shuttered window beneath a drip mould and a boarded door accessing the cross passage of the 17th-century block. A narrow opening at intermediate level lights the stair, with an inserted stair window to its left. Above is a further stair window under a drip mould and relieving arch, marking the position of a wider original window. The upper storey originally had a segmental relieving arch for a window to the great chamber, now replaced by a narrower, lower-placed two-light window with shutters. The right side retains putlogs.

A rubble-stone garden wall, probably dating to the 17th century, stands in front of the 17th-century block.

Interior

The porch contains a pointed stop-chamfered doorway opening to a cross passage. The 17th-century block follows a two-unit plan comprising a hall and service room, the latter now entered via an inserted door in the front elevation, with stone stairs in an original rear outshut. The earlier block has a stone partition separating the kitchen from the service room on the lower storey. The kitchen fireplace in the left gable end is fitted with a massive timber lintel. The smaller service room has an inserted fireplace beneath a wooden lintel, with an integral bread oven. A dog-leg stair ascends to the great chamber, with the lower flight constructed in stone and the upper flight having wooden treads. The great chamber contains a segmental-headed stone fireplace in the rear wall. Cross beams are retained, though the attic floor is otherwise missing, exposing principals with curved feet.