Rheola House, an early nineteenth-century house by John Nash (nprn 19836), is located on the north side of the Neath valley, about 2km north-east of Resolven. It is notable for the survival of a contemporary designed landscape which provided the picturesque setting to the country house. Nash (1752-1835) also designed some of the picturesque estate buildings. There are also associations with Nash's collaborator George Repton (son of the landscape designer Humphry Repton) who visited Rheola in 1814. A small area of parkland survives south of the house (265631). 

The garden consists largely of informal grounds to the north and west of the house. There is a small area of formal garden, consisting of brick-edged beds and a paved area to the immediate west, on the site of the conservatory.
Rheola was built as a romantic, overgrown cottage, rather than a mansion, in a natural setting, on levelled ground at the southern end of the narrow tributary valley of the Rheola Brook. At first it was approached not by a drive but by a gated path, the stables and coach house  (412615), kennels and laundry being at a distance to the south-east. To the east of the house is a narrow strip of ground between house and stream, with a large cedar tree at its south end. A stony drive runs past the east front up the valley into an area of informal lawn planted with mixed trees and shrubs and backed by hanging woods. The trees and shrubs, some of which are now enormous, include pines, cypresses, monkey puzzles, rhododendrons and azaleas. At the head of the grounds is a particularly large rhododendron. The track winds westwards up the steep slope, past two large wellingtonias planted on mounds, oaks and a monkey puzzle and then doubles back at a higher level to descend the slope gradually, eventually arriving back at the south end of the grounds near the forecourt. The track is backed by mixed woodland, including some conifers. The area of woodland flanking the west side of the gardens was originally a large, square, tree nursery, now completely overgrown. There are the remains of iron fencing around the area.

The 1877 Ordnance Survey map shows that by this time the lawn behind the house had been dotted with ornamental trees, both deciduous and coniferous, and shrubs, and more paths had been introduced. The large, mature conifers and rhododendrons in this area today had probably been planted by this time.
At the upper end of the grounds the stream is more natural than below, but it is still in a deep channel, parts of which are revetted with stone and concrete. There was originally a track along the stream; it is still visible but mostly grassed over. Early OS maps show footpaths winding through the woodland either side of and crossing the brook. At the head of the grounds, next to the stream, is a concrete-lined, rectangular water tank, with the remains of stone and brick walling around it. At the south end is a flight of steps down into the water. To the south of the tank are the remains of a small room, with higher walls. The tank appears originally to have been for water supply that was later converted into a plunge pool.

To the south-west of the house lies the kitchen garden (700372). 

Source:
Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan pp129-131 (PGW(Gm)53(NEP)).

RCAHMW, 15 July 2022