THROUGH THE KEYHOLE OF £1.3M MANSION
TAKE a wander around Cardiff’s leafy suburb of Penylan and you’ll notice the wide variety of architecture on offer.
Big, spacious villas, quirkier new builds and flats all sit side by side among the greenery and open space of the neighbourhood.
And Coedhirion, an impressive fourbedroom house on Ty Gwyn Road, is typical of everything that makes Penylan so desirable – and it could be yours for £1.3m.
The road itself, with its picture-perfect properties set back from the street among the trees, is home to many grand, detached homes such as Coedhirion, whose name literally means “tall trees”.
However, they are seldom on the market, making this a rare opportunity.
Over the past five years, 12 properties have sold on the road, only one of which was a detached house. The last property of this scale to go on the market, a nearby five-bed detached house, sold for £700,000 in 2014.
Roath Park and the ever-popular Wellfield Road are little over a fiveminute walk away and there are numerous coffee shops, bakeries and even allotments close by.
Long before Penylan was the soughtafter suburb it is today, it was the site of a lone farmhouse atop a small hill.
Coedhirion sits right at the heart of Penylan’s history, located metres away from the original spot which gave its name to the area.
Ty Gwyn Road takes its name from an old farm building. When that building still stood, it was also referred to by a second name, Pen-y-lan (which translates as “end of the height”).
It was demolished at the end of the 19th century to make way for a building commissioned by the Marquess of Bute himself, which was in turn flattened to make way for the building which currently stands on the site – St David’s Catholic College.
Coedhirion is directly opposite today’s college building, at the historical heart of the area.
Approaching the property, it’s fair to say that the first thing you notice is its size. Set well back from the pavement, behind iron gates and a thicket of bushes, the property is reminiscent in style of the grand, detached houses built across the UK during the interwar years.
Four large bay windows with characteristic mullions, distinctive red tiling, and a solid mahogany door all greet you as you walk up to Coedhirion – described by estate agency Hentons as a “stunning executive, double bayed, double fronted, distinctive detached house in an elevated position standing in a large plot.”
Entering the front door and through the entrance porch, the house’s grand features continue.
A spotlessly shiny wooden floor in the hallway, lined with dark borders, leads you to a solid, oak staircase.
At the far end of the hallway is a cloakroom-come-WC, complete with wash basin set in a marble-topped vanity unit.
To the door on your right is the lounge.
Perfect for cwtching up in on those long winter nights, the room’s most eyecatching feature is its coal effect gas fire with pinewood surround, marble back and slate hearth.
The room, like the hallway, has a wellshined wood block floor.
The lounge also features sliding double glazed patio doors leading to the rear garden.
Speaking of which, the garden is colossal – a big, open lawn with a patioed area and an abundance of trees, shrubs and plants.
It also comes complete with a garden shed and a Wendy house.
Elsewhere downstairs, there is a sitting room, dining room and kitchen fitted with a large Armitage Shanks sink and clean, modern kitchen units topped with grey granite.
Heading upstairs, there are four bedrooms – two of which have ensuite bathrooms.
Meanwhile, the light and airy landing with oak features throughout leads to a mysterious looking door – open it and you will find a balcony, perfect for sitting out on with a glass of prosecco at the end of a long day.