History

Regency hotel built c1830 as part of a speculative development of the village on this side of the river by the Sygun estate on its Perthi Farm property. This development, to which the earliest of the C19 buildings in the village belong, was intended to serve the increasing numbers of tourists who were coming to Snowdonia in the second quarter of the century. The Hotel replaced a series of houses recorded on this site in the late C18 under the collective name of Pen-y-Bont. A coffee room and some bedrooms were added to the hotel in the 1860s.

Exterior

Large 3-storey hotel complex consisting of a primary, 3-bay section of c1830, with a 2-bay, third-quarter C19 extension adjoining to the R. Of rubble construction with continuous slate roof, half-hipped to the L (primary) section and gabled to the R; deep eaves and verges. Central brick chimney with slate capping. The primary section has a symmetrical facade with central entrance; C20 projecting rubble porch with modern boarded, part-glazed door. Flanking this on the ground floor are modern tilting sashes (loose copies of late C19 4-pane sashes), contained within their original openings with returned slatestone labels. The 2 upper floors each have 3 windows; these all retain their original wooden intersecting tracery heads, though with modern replacement multi-pane casements below; slate sills and lintels. The adjoining, additional section has an entrance to the L with simple C19 open iron columnar porch; modern door. To the R is a single-storey wooden canted bay window with plain C19 sashes. The first floor has a plain C19 sash to the R with a modern tilting copy to the L; further C19 sashes to the second floor and to the R return.

Adjoining to the R, set back from the road, is a 2-storey 3-bay early C20 addition of rubble and slate, with brick dressings to the openings. Symmetrical facade with central entrance and simple rectangular overlight, with pairs of plain flanking sashes; slate lintels and sills. The ground floor has a later C20 open verandah on rubble piers with a low rubble front wall and slate roof. The upper floor has a pair of plain sashes to the centre with larger flanking sashes breaking the eaves and contained within gabled dormers; plain bargeboards.

Interior

Modernised interiors.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its special interest as a purpose-built second-quarter C19 hotel retaining good external character within the context of a fine village street-scape.

Group value with other listed items in Smith Street.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29483496

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings