Llangoed Hall is a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

hotel, near the village of Llyswen, in

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

Mid Wales Mid Wales ( or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands"), or Central Wales, is a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd covered the unitary autho ...

. It is known for its decoration in

Laura Ashley Laura Ashley (née Mountney; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s ...

fabrics and styles, and was owned by Sir Bernard Ashley, the widower of the designer. It is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building, and its gardens and park are listed at Grade II on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

History

The Hall, originally known as Llangoed Castle, was donated to the church in 560 by Prince Iddon in expiation of his sins. It may have also been the site of the legendary White Palace, home of the first

Welsh parliament The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its ro ...

. A mansion existed from 1632. It was in the possession of the Macnamara family for two generations until 1847, but changed hands to settle a gambling debt. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Military Cross, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate architecture, Italianate village of Portmeirion in North ...

re-designed it as a country house, retaining the surviving Jacobean porch as part of the south wing but creating several

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

additions.

Sir Bernard Ashley Sir Bernard Albert Ashley (11 August 1926 – 14 February 2009) was an English businessman and engineer. He was the husband of Laura Ashley, and was her business partner from the founding of their fashion-textiles-centred business. An enginee ...

bought Llangoed Hall in 1987 and opened it as a hotel in 1990. The Ashley family sold the hall to Von Essen Hotels in November 2010 for an undisclosed sum. The property was put up for sale again in February 2012 after Von Essen went into administration in April 2011.

Hotel

Sir Bernard Ashley's intention was to recreate Llangoed Hall as an

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

house, replete with high-society Edwardian customs, period furnishings and antique fittings. The hotel also has an art collection with pieces by Whistler,

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

, Walter Sickert,

Andrew Melville Andrew Melville (1 August 1545 – 1622) was a Scottish scholar, theologian, poet and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European continent to study at Glasgow and St. Andrews. He was born at Baldovie, on 1 August 154 ...

, John Duncan Fergusson and Albert Lynch. Bedrooms are individually designed and decorated with furnishings from

and Sir Bernard's venture company Elanbach, which he created in 2000 and is based in the hotel's grounds. It won the ''Best Restaurant in Wales'' award in its first year.

References

External links

Official website
{{Powys Country houses in Powys Castles in Powys Hotels in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Powys Registered historic parks and gardens in Powys Country house hotels Arts and Crafts architecture in Wales