Carreg Cennen House

Carreg Cennen House is a grade II* country house of late Georgian date, built on an artificial terrace commanding views. The building is constructed of unpainted render, with original Roman cement surviving on the ground floor, slated hipped roofs and an internal valley. It has a basically square plan, though the south-west side extends further to enclose part of the service yard, with lower service ranges enclosing the other two sides. Two rendered chimney stacks sit on the ridges to the rear of the front range, and one stands on the ridge of the wing. Close eaves with wide-spaced small brackets of later 19th-century date appear on the front only.

The south-east front is two storeys tall with three windows, displaying thin glazing-bar sashes and stone sills characteristic of the late Georgian period. The ground floor sits within an open veranda. Above are 12-pane sashes; below are 4-12-4-pane tripartite sashes set within later 19th-century moulded stucco architraves. A central arched doorway with a radiating-bar fanlight and half-glazed door provides the main entrance. Timber trellis work, probably early 19th century, spans the ground floor wall. The veranda is paved with stone flags with steps leading to the front door and features a glazed roof supported on thin cast-iron columns topped by trefoil panels, with screen walls at each end.

The left (south-west) end wall displays a 9-pane sash over a 10-pane window and forms part of the long south-west front, rising to the same roof line and gable-ended to the left. The centre has a 9-pane window over a half-glazed door, and to the left are three 12-pane sashes over a basement window. Beyond lies a lower range with a single sash over two basement doors. A gable-end door in rusticated stucco surround and a 12-pane window punctuate this section. The right (north-east) side is much shorter, hipped at both ends with 9-pane sashes to the first floor—one to the left and two to the right. A glazed double door opens to the ground floor at the right. Beyond are low service ranges, the first featuring an eaves-breaking hipped dormer and a 9-pane sash.

The rear of the house and all courtyard buildings are whitewashed. These buildings are built into the bank and accessed by steps down from the rear into a flagged, narrow courtyard. The rear of the house features a 12-pane stair-light to the left and a 9-pane window over a 16-pane sash to the right, positioned at an angle to the rear wing, which has a half-glazed door, a tripartite window and a 6-panel door facing the court.

Lower outbuildings on the north-east side include one with a triple casement. Enclosing the rear north-west of the court is a two-storey outside kitchen with a rendered end stack. A two-window range faces the court, with a door and 16-pane sash below and small sashes above. A slate-roofed hipped shelter with a Doric timber column supporting the corner connects this door with the door on the rear wing. An additional outbuilding stands at the top of the steps at the end of the north-east side.

The plan features a central entrance hall running back past the drawing-room to the right and the library to the left, reaching a staircase-hall at the right rear. Interior detailing is of good quality, including moulded cornices, architraves and skirtings; marble chimney-pieces; 6-panel doors and panelled window splays. The library (formerly the dining-room) contains an arched sideboard recess to the inner wall. The staircase is a cantilevered, open-well timber construction with additional support and a mahogany handrail on painted uprights. The first-floor landing features a remarkable triple arcade and a single arched recess in the staircase wall; both are decorated with fluted and marbled pilasters plus unusual openwork piers to the arcade. A longitudinal bedroom corridor with an arched entry towards the right completes the arrangement, with woodwork detailing consistent throughout.