Wern Isaf, formerly Rosebriars, is located in Penmaen Park on the eastern edge of Llanfairfechan, on a north-west-facing slope overlooking the sea to Anglesey and Ynys Seiriol. The two-storey brick and granite Arts-and-Crafts style house of c.1900 was designed by architect Herbert Luck North who also designed and laid out the contemporary garden and whose family still own the property.

Though not large the garden contains several diistinct areas. The layout of terraces is carefully integrated with the plan of the house, thus giving a strong sense of unity to the whole. The highest part, to the south-east (about half of the garden), was designed as a wild garden, around several large oaks remaining on the site. Contrasting with this, two tiers of semi-hexagonal terraces, bounded by dry-stone walls, are laid out around the house, echoing its semi-hexagonal shape. These had formal box-edged beds and lawns. Between the formal and the informal were areas planted with shrubs, a tennis court, a stream and pond and, north-east of the drive, a further area of shrubs with a rose pergola which gave the house its original name. In the north corner of the plot is a chalet, Wern Isaf Bach, with its own small garden, once part of the wild garden, a small triangular lawn with shrub borders each side, and a small paved area at the top with a tiny rockery in the point above.

The garden suffered a long period of neglect when the house was rented out, the family living elsewhere in Llanfairfechan. The wild area became even wilder and completely overgrown. The rose pergola was lost, the pond was altered and some of the original plantings died or grew out of control. Despite this the original layout of the garden remained clear and when restoration began, it was possible to rediscover or recreate most of the design, aided by an original plan and the memory of the present owner who visited it as a child.

Source:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 140-2 (ref: PGW(Gd)9(CON)).

RCAHMW, 23 June 2022

Site Record

Rosebriars Garden, Llanfairfechan