Plas Llanstephan is a mansion in the county of

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It is set well back from the public road among pasture fields and is reached by a private driveway from the village of

Llansteffan Llansteffan, is a village and a community situated on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tywi, south of Carmarthen. Description The community includes Llanybri and is bordered by the communities of: L ...

. Both the hall and the stable block are grade II listed buildings.

Llansteffan Castle Llansteffan Castle ( cy, Castell Llansteffan) is a privately owned castle in Llansteffan, Carmarthenshire, Wales, overlooking the River Tywi estuary in Carmarthen Bay. Iron Age The castle sits on a much older Iron Age promontory fort, prov ...

overlooks the house from the summit of a low hill to the southeast. Plas Llanstephan was built in the second half of the 16th century by the Lloyd family. The Lloyd family inhabited Plas until 1767, when it was acquired by the Meares family of Eastington. Plas Llansteffan - geograph

It then passed to the family of Morris who were bankers in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

. For parts of the 19th century, the mansion was leased out to Sir John James Hamilton, and Sir John Williams (1840–1926). It was sold in 1920 to

Sir Owen Cosby Philipps Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant (25 March 1863 – 5 June 1937) was a British businessman and politician, jailed in 1931 for producing a document with intent to deceive. Background Philipps was the third of five sons of the Reverend Sir J ...

(1863–1937), politician and shipping magnate. He was made Lord Kylsant in 1923. The house passed to his wife, Lady Kylsant, on his death. On the death of Lady Kylsant in December 1952 it was inherited by her eldest daughter Nesta Donne Fisher-Hoch. Her husband held the position of

High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Carmarthenshire. Carmarthenshire was originally created by the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. It became an administrative county in 1889 with a county council following the Local Government Act 1888. Under the Loca ...

in 1963, as did she in 1970. The grounds at Plas include one of the largest

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

s in Wales. The stable block is dated 1788 and is thought to have been designed by John Nash. The property was sold in 2000 when the house was in dire need of a complete overhaul. Both the hall and the associated stable block are grade II* listed buildings. The house has a U-shaped plan and is built round a central court. The walls are built from rubble stone and

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed, with slate roofs and red brick chimneys. It is a two-storey building in late Georgian style with five windows across the facade and a single window on each forward-projecting wing. A flight of seven broad stone steps lead to the

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

ed main door. The stable block and various outbuildings lie behind the house, which has a fine eighteenth century interior.

References

{{Coord, 51.7684, -4.3937, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Carmarthenshire Grade II* listed buildings in Carmarthenshire