A HOME WITH HISTORY

Its imposing castle-like walls have overlooked the residents of Carmarthen for more than a century. Now the stunning Victorian “gentleman’s residence” in Penllwyn Park, is finally available – for those with the right budget. It dates back to around 1900 and was designed by George Morgan & Son of Carmarthen, prominent local architects of the period.

The “gentleman’s residence”, as it was billed at the time, was finished in an elaborate northern Renaissancestyle with dressed stone facade and brick quoins with octagonal and square bays.

The house – being sold for offers in the region of £595,000 – has a wealth of history, having only had five owners in its lifetime.

They allowed its six large bedrooms and four reception rooms to be filled with charm and character, with a teak staircase, original fireplaces a mosaicpatterned quarry-tiled floor and views across the Carmarthenshire countryside from a beautiful bay window among its best features.

The breakfast room has a feature wood window seat with a storage cupboard.

In the bespoke fitted kitchen, you will find a range of handmade “Makepeace” fitted base and eye level kitchen units, while a separate utility room leaves the kitchen as a purely cooking space.

The living room has an arched alcove to either side of the former fireplace and a built-in glazed/panelled cupboard, and the dining room has an octagonal bay window with good views and a feature fireplace with teak surround and over mantle with glass/ leaded lights.

The original owner of the home, Charles William Jones, lived there alone with his three servants, and was a prominent member of the town, becoming mayor, and working as a magistrate. He was a chemist, but then devoted his time to public service.

He died suddenly, and left money to the infirmary and churches in town. Mr Jones left his house, however to one of his servants, Miss E Owens.

She chose not to live in the property and sold it to a Mr John Lewis.

Mrs Meinir Lewis, the current owner of the house, said: “There’s a funny coincidence, because my name was E Owens, I go by my middle name, and I married a Mr John Lewis, and we bought the home in 1990, so unrelated to the previous owners, a Mr John Lewis and E Owens once again own the house!

“We are the fifth owners. The woman who had it before us bought the house in 1931, and had it until she was 90.

“We’ve been here for 28 years now, but it’s just us and we’re getting old. It’s too big for only two people. It’s a family home and needs another family. Just two people living here feels wrong.

“Our four girls loved growing up here. They would have friends over all the time and there was plenty of space for them.

“We found a note up in their art room at the top of the house from them which said: ‘Thanks mum and Dad for the best room in the house.’”

Four of the bedrooms are on the first floor, with the side one having an original feature “Victorian” fireplace and a built-in cupboard off.

Included in the first front bedroom are fitted Makepeace “His and Hers” wardrobes with part-mirrored doors finished in cherry.

Another one has fitted wardrobes and an alcove cupboard. With it comes a balcony with views over the Lower Towy Valley.

They are also apparent from the bay window in the other first floor bedroom, which also has fitted wardrobes and the original feature fireplace.

The floor has an airing room and a bathroom with a towel warmer ladder radiator and a four-piece white suite, including an enamelled bath and bidet.

Also on that level is a shower room, fresh from a 2015 refurbishment and containing a tiled double shower enclosure. Housed on the second floor are the remaining two bedrooms, a study, an attic room and a work room.

There is plenty going on outside the house, as well as in, with a forecourt for parking, a lawned garden with mature ornamental shrubs and a patio with herbaceous borders that leads to a level sunny rear walled lawned garden with ornamental trees/ shrubs and herbaceous borders.

Mrs Lewis added: “This is a lovely street, people tend to stay here for years.”

Additionally there is an old coach house which contains stables and a staircase to the property’s second attic room.

This element has potential for a granny annexe, an office or a studio, subject to consent requirements, with an adjoining garage.

For more details or to arrange a viewing for Gwynfryn, Penllwyn Park, Carmarthen, contact Gerald R Vaughan, Carmarthen, on 01267 238779.