The Argoed

The Argoed is a stone-built country house of informal plan, mostly two storeys with an attic storey at the south-east end. The earliest parts, occupying the centre of the south-west side, are rubble-fronted, while later 19th-century work is coursed with quoins. The roof is Welsh slate with ridge tiles, and stone chimney stacks have moulded caps.

The main south-west front is stepped and features two central gables. The left-hand gable is set forward, contains the staircase, and has three windows on the upper floor. Windows throughout are 6 over 6 pane sashes, except for the staircase window which is 6 over 6 with a radiating head above; its keystone is carved with the Probert family crest. A modern entrance with a part-glazed door and radiating fanlight is positioned here, along with a cut-down chimney stack. The lower right-hand gable is set back, one window wide, and contains an attic window plus a former entrance; it has 6 over 6 pane sashes on the ground and first floors and a 3 x 3 window in the attic gable. The first-floor window has a wrought iron balcony. To the left of these gables, beyond a vertical joint, the front has two further windows: a 9 over 9 sash and a 2 x 2 casement below, with 6 over 6 sashes above, and a gable stack to the left. Behind this wing, the kitchen wing also has sash windows and a tall chimney.

At the south-east end, stepped forward, stands a taller two-window block with a half-hipped roof and round-headed attic window. This section dates wholly to circa 1865 and has sash windows with marginal glazing bars.

The right-hand end elevation features a broadly splayed bay with similar marginal-glazed sash windows and another window beside, positioned over a stone porch with ball finials and a coat of arms to the parapet; the door is half-glazed. A wall-mounted sundial is positioned above to the left.

The long garden-front elevation to the north-east begins at the south-east end with the taller Victorian block, which has a projecting gable with a further round-headed attic window and an additional first-floor window to the right. Set back between this and the central half-hipped projection are two windows, horned on the first floor, flanking a stone porch. This porch contains a reused iron fireback dated 1647 bearing the royal coat of arms, possibly commemorating a visit by Charles II when Prince of Wales, and a massive piece of reused Jacobean strapwork carving, probably originally an overmantel. The two-window half-hipped central block, largely of original fabric, has a semi-circular attic window and 6 over 6 pane sashes. To the right is a two plus three window section, the back of the kitchen wing, followed by a parallel single-storey range continuing beyond the north-west end of the building, with attached outbuildings.

A terraced forecourt with urns to stone walls fronts the house; a stable range stands to the north-west.

The entrance opens into the staircase hall, which has moulded and stop-chamfered beams. The stairs are renewed but in character, with pierced splat balusters. Both the staircase area and first-floor landing contain massive turned piers moulded in the same manner as the stanchions in the stable range. The first-floor corridor features late 16th or early 17th-century wainscotting and a guilloche frieze; a similar guilloche pattern is repeated vertically beneath a timber bracket at the top of the stairs. One first-floor room has moulded joists and wall-panelling that includes a reused and richly carved bed tester.

At the time of the most recent survey, only the ground floor was examined. The ground floor represents a late 20th-century refurbishment of the Victorian house, including an entirely new kitchen.