Hidden amongst woodland on the edge of a Swansea suburb there’s an eerie looking Gothic mansion and it appears that it is finally about to have a new owner.
Hendrefoilan House is a large 19th century house in the Sketty area of the city, once set in its own beautiful landscaped gardens.
Owned by Swansea University, the building and the eight acres that surround it have been dormant for some time.
It was put up for sale in February, 2019, and by September last year it seemed that its future was secured after a buyer was found. However, the sale fell through, plunging the future of the site into doubt once more.
The site has been advertised as two separate lots. Lot 1 is the house itself and surrounding grounds, while Lot 2 is the former stables adjacent to the main house. Or, conversely, both lots can be bought as one.
A value or asking price on Hendrefoilan House has not been made public, with a price only being revealed on application, and now, almost a year and a half after it was put up for sale, there is hope that the site will finally change hands.
The house itself was built almost 170 years ago by one-time MP and Swansea Mayor Lewis Llewellyn Dillwyn for £14,000, the equivalent of around £1.1m in today's money.
Incredibly, upon his death his daughter was not allowed to inherit the property and accompanying land simply because she was female.
Over the years it has been owned by another member of the Dillwyn family and later by Mr Picton Turberville and Lady Edwards.
The Grade II listed building was then bought by Swansea University in the 1960s and has been used over the years as an adult educational facility.
In recent years, however, Hendrefoilan House has been vacant, and ten years ago it was even listed as one of the most endangered buildings in the whole of England and Wales by the Victorian Society.
A conservation advisor with that society, James Hughes, said last year that it was “a building we’re concerned about and it’s one, of course, we want to save for the future”.
The main house itself is described as “an impressive two-storey mansion in the Tudor Gothic style”.
It is set in an area of private land made up of almost eight acres, including extensive gardens to the front and side and a parking courtyard. It also has a two-storey service wing to the west side of the main house.
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Although it has a planning use of a ‘non-residential institution’, it does have the potential, according to estate agent Savills, to be the subject of a “sympathetic redevelopment for a variety of uses including educational, day care, crèche, hotel, institutional, offices or a residential conversion”.
Confirming that the property was now listed as "under offer", Savills described Hendrefoilan as an “important and historic house”.
Swansea University, meanwhile, has said a deal could be completed within the next four to six weeks.
A spokesman for the university said: “The sale is taking longer than normal due to restrictions around Covid-19.
“With the current climate there is obviously uncertainty in all businesses, however both parties are hopeful that the sale will progress successfully.”
