Pant-y-Goitre House

Pant-y-Goitre House and Avalon

This property comprises the main block of the former Pant-y-Goitre House, with Avalon occupying the top floor and its approach. The old service wing, now separately listed as Velindre, is no longer part of this unit.

The house is constructed of red brick but is now completely rendered and painted, except for the Bath limestone ashlar detailing. The natural slate roof is concealed behind tall parapets. The building forms a large rectangular block of three storeys with a double-depth plan and a fenestration pattern of six by five windows.

The east (entrance) front consists of six bays, with the entrance to Pant-y-Goitre in the fourth bay from the left. The ground floor features a projecting eight-bay colonnade of unfluted Doric columns supporting a plain entablature. The centrepiece of two bays is heightened by an additional two panels and cornice, with the entrance door positioned below the right-hand section. The first and second floors have six over six pane sashes with stone cills in plain openings on the ground and first floors, while the second floor has three over three pane casements. A deep ashlar cornice runs across, with the central section raised to match the ground floor feature. A central downpipe reveals that the roof comprises two hipped roofs meeting at a centre valley, with a chimney at the right-hand end of the elevation.

The north (river) front, which was the original entrance to the house, comprises five bays with a seven-bay ashlar colonnade returned from the east elevation, though without a central cornice feature. Window details match those of the east elevation across all three floors, and the eaves cornice carries a heightened feature over the three central windows.

The west (garden) front is severely plain in treatment, with window details consistent with the other elevations. The first and second bays on both ground and first floors have been affected by the addition of a large conservatory, which features a French door on the ground floor and two blind windows above. The third bay has a modern French casement with marginal glazing. A plain continuous cornice runs across, with a chimney at the right-hand end of the roof.

The south (road) elevation is featureless and includes a two-storey link to Velindre, the first bay of which carries the entrance for Avalon.

The conservatory is a curved structure of rendered brick, iron and glass, arranged as a seven-bay colonnade. The concave side faces north while the convex side, with wider bays, faces the sun. It features a plain Tuscan colonnade with twelve plus twelve pane French casements between the columns. Large timber cornices carry gutters, and solid walls close the end gables. The roof is glazed in three-pane sections with a central purlin. The interior contains decorative light iron roof trusses with a propeller motif in roundels, spanning the space unsupported.

The interior of the main house has been altered twice: first when access and planning were changed, and second when the conservatory was added. The front door opens into a cross passage, with the long Drawing Room to the right and the stair to the rear left. The stair is notably steep and awkwardly positioned, clearly indicating structural alteration. The Drawing Room is a long rectangle spanning the entire north front, formed by combining what was originally a room, entrance hall and staircase. Both the Drawing Room and hallway have plain neo-classical finishes of early twentieth-century date. The upper floors were not inspected during the resurvey.

The internal layout has been substantially reorganised from the original configuration.