Castle House in

Laugharne Laugharne ( cy, Talacharn) is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf. The ancient borough of Laugharne Township ( cy, Treflan Lacharn) with its Corporation and Charter is a unique survival ...

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 ...

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 ...

, is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

–listed Georgian mansion. Described by

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Unde ...

as “the best of houses in the best of places”, it is one of many buildings of note in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

township. The house was built around 1730, although remodelled inside and out in the

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

period. It features a three-storey, five-bay facade, with the central three bays projecting slightly. The central doorway is surmounted by a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

; above it are tripartite windows, with the uppermost one in the Venetian style. A broad

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

on the facade conceals the slate roof. Several wings, lower than the main body of the house, project to the rear, one of which dates to the original 18th-century construction. The interiors are mainly of the Regency period and later but include the only example in Carmarthenshire of a

Chinese Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Cabi ...

staircase. There were formerly a number of outbuildings to the rear of the house, as can be seen in the first-edition

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

County Series map (Carmarthen, XLV.14, 1889), and the grounds of

Laugharne Castle Laugharne Castle ( cy, Castell Talacharn) is in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The castle, located on the estuary of the River Tâf, was originally established in 1116. It was rebuilt as a Norman stronghold. There have been many alterations ...

were formerly landscaped to serve as the house's garden. Two of the surviving outbuildings have been converted to a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

and a restaurant. Although the castle is now in the guardianship of

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

, its title is still with the house. Until recently Castle House was in the ownership of the Starke family, who had held it since the early 19th century, although it is now the private residence of David Thomas and Abi Thomas, daughter of the local artist David Petersen. The house has long had artistic links, as Richard Hughes wrote ''In Hazard'' (1938) while living there, and

wrote '' Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog'' (1940) while staying with Hughes.Lloyd, Orbach, and Scourfield (2006)
pp. 222–223
Retrieved 29 August 2009.

Notes

{{coord, 51.7702, -4.4622, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Georgian architecture in Wales Houses in Carmarthenshire Grade II* listed buildings in Carmarthenshire Laugharne