Situated approximately midway between Brecon and Sennybridge, 1km east of Penpont, lies Smithy Cottage, south of the Usk and on the south side of the A40. It has a gable end to the main road, and together with the contemporary Forge Cottage [NPRN 25469], which lies to the west, it flanks the by-road that runs uphill to Penpont Farm. It is contemporary with the neighbouring Forge Cottage which is dated 1846. It was built as a smithy for the Penpont estate [NPRN 16026] with later (possibly inter-war) conversion to domestic accommodation. It is a single-storey rubble building with an attic. The roof is slated to the front but retains stone tiles to the rear and has overhanging eaves. There are paired octagonal brick chimney stacks on a stone base to the downhill gable end. It has a 3-bay front with a stepped gable to the projecting central bay with an unusually stilted hood-mould over the gable window, now with modern glazing. There is a slate-hung gabled dormer to the left, also with later glazing. The ground floor has flat Tudor arches with voussoirs, and the left hand opening, now with a casement window, was formerly a doorway. The broad central entrance now contains a recessed door and flanking window. There are two camber-headed windows to the right hand gable, the lower one of which is set into a blocked doorway; and a further doorway to the rear which also has a swept roof dormer. The left hand gable end is blank. There is a rubble wall to the roadside with an inset `VR' crowned wallbox and a lean-to pigsty at the rear.
(Source: RW Hughes, CADW listed buildings database, 9 November 1992).
Ian Archer, RCAHMW, 24th February 2005