‘1 mile southwest of the village [of Llangristiolus]. Two-storey Arts and Crafts house by Jospeph Owen, 1906. Between the two gables (deliberately not matching), the roof sweeps down over the entrance. Stepped base to the chimney, reminiscent of H. L.  North. Elegant staircase, with heart-shaped baluster cut-outs and tapering, capped newels. Decorative glass to the stair window’ Halsalm, R., Orbach J., and Voelcker, A., (2009) The Buildings of Wales: Gwynedd (p. 188)

Cefnllwyn is Grade II listed ‘as an excellent example of an Arts and Crafts house which retains many original features and is enhanced by fine detailing. It is one of a notable series of homes from this period on the island, possibly the work of local architect Joseph Owen.’ Joseph Owen was the County Architect for Anglesey in the early twentieth century, and Cefnllwyn ‘carries some of his stylistic hallmarks.’

Cadw describes the house in some detail. The exterior is covered in ‘large grit rendering with smooth-render in the gable apexes’ and there are roughly dressed stone plinths to the bay windows and entrance wall.’ The roof is made ‘of small green slates and red clay ridge tiles, with broadly projecting eaves with ornate scrolled iron brackets. Tall rectangular stacks, grit rendered and with brick “corbels” to the capping, stacks are to the right (north) of each gabled bay to the front of the house with a single ridge stack to the servants’ quarters to the rear; the front stacks have gabled steps at the base of the front faces. The house is planned with principal rooms to the front, the entrance recesses between two gabled bays; half-glazed double doors with Art-Nouveau-style leaded glass and floriate brackets to the right, tripartite window of three leaded lights and chamfered mullions to the left. Set in the roof above the entrance is a flat-roofed dormer of 4 small-paned lights; other windows are small-paned horned sashes. The right gables bay has a ground floor canted bay window with shaped leaded roof up to a canted oriel above. The left gabled bay has a ground floor canted bay window, first floor tripartite window and a circular leaded first floor light to the left. The left return elevation has a tripartite window to the right an a gabled bay to the left, with similarly detailed widows to those of the right gabled bay of the front elevation; the rear elevation of the gabled bay has a large stair window of three rows of four leaded lights. The right return is abutted by a flat roofed garage block of two garages, each with large boarded doors; ground floor has a single window to the left and canted bay window to the right, first floor with tripartite window to the left and paired window to the right. To the rear of the main house is a gabled wing with entrance in a gabled porch to the north side.’

Indoors, ‘the house is planned around a central hallway with principal rooms in the front block and service rooms and servants’ quarters to the rear. The entrance leads into a small vestibule with cloakroom off to the left, both with a mosaic patterned floor. The hallway has a corbelled picture rail, and timbered arch over the first step of the stairs; dog-leg staircase with tapering splat balusters, some pierced with shaped motifs, and square newel posts with projecting caps. The ground floor rooms retain picture rails, the sitting room railed corbelled, and the dining room and drawing room have the original fire surrounds. The dining room fire has a wooden surround with tiled inset, the widely projecting moulded cornice on tapering Ionic columns with fluting to the heads, an oval mirror set above the corbelled mantle. The drawing room has a similarly detailed surround but with plain tapering columns. Some of the bedrooms retain original cast-iron fireplaces, some with floriate decoration. The bathroom retains original fittings and tiling and the pantry, some of the original glazed cupboards. Many of the panelled doors are original and retain their Art Nouveau style floriate handles.’

RCAHMW, 3 August 2021