Doldowlod House is located in the upper Wye valley, to the south-east of Llanwrthwl. The nineteenth-century house, built as an extension to an existing farmhouse (nprn 30611), stands against a steep hanging wood below the A470 on a level terrace looking out to the south-west over a small, semi-circular area of park set in a bend in the river Wye. The grounds are entered to the east of the house at Doldowlod Lodge.
The house and estate were purchased by the engineer James Watt in 1803 and was developed as a country residence by his son James Watt junior (1769-1848) the second quarter of the nineteenth century.

The small park at Doldowlod lies between the house and garden and the river Wye, on the river's floodplain. It covers about 25 acres and is separated from the formal garden by a stone ha-ha and fencing. The park created an uninterrupted area of pasture which balanced the gardens of the house with the surrounding, wilder countryside. The line of an abandoned drive runs through the park from a gate, set in the ha-ha to the north-west of the house, to a fine set of formal gates on the west side of the A470. The appearance of the present park is believed to date from about 1840, following the building of a new house by the Watt family. The structural features, the ha-ha and the north drive are thought to date from this time and are recorded on a tithe map of 1844.

Gardens lie to the south-east of the house, between the road and parkland (86215).

Sources:
Cadw 1999: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Powys, 60-3 (ref: PGW (Po)52(POW)). Ordnance Survey first-edition 6-inch map: sheets Brecknockshire V.SW & V.SE (1888).

RCAHMW, 10 July 2022