An ancient Welsh farmhouse currently being restored by hand.
Ffos-y-Fign
The restoration aims to preserve the character and irregularity of the original structure while creating a quieter, lighter interior shaped by natural materials, firelight and changing weather.
A circular stone staircase will rise beside the inglenook fireplace to a mezzanine sleeping platform overlooking the main living space.
Ffos-y-Fign was last occupied in the 1940s and sits high above the valley where the landscape begins to open towards the Cambrian Mountains.
Built directly onto exposed bedrock, the house still retains traces of earlier occupation beneath later Victorian alterations, including layers of historic limewash and evidence of hand-worked stone floors.
The Restoration
High above the valley, where the landscape begins to open towards the Cambrian Mountains, Ffos-y-Fign sits alone beneath dark skies and newly planted woodland.
Last occupied in the 1940s, the house has stood quietly for decades while weather, vegetation and time slowly reclaimed it.
The current structure dates largely from the 18th century, though evidence suggests people have lived on this site for much longer. Beneath later quarry tiles we uncovered exposed bedrock floors shaped by hand tools and layers of historic limewash built up over generations of occupation.
Our restoration aims to preserve those traces wherever possible.
From the outside, Ffos-y-Fign will remain a simple Welsh hill farmhouse restored using natural materials and traditional methods. Inside, the spaces are being carefully opened to create a lighter, quieter interior centred around an enormous inglenook fireplace rising into a double-height living space.
Beside the hearth, a circular stone staircase will lead to a mezzanine sleeping platform overlooking the fire below.
Like the Longhouse, the house will remain connected to the landscape around it. Water comes directly from a mountain spring above the valley, and footpaths leave directly into woodland, open hills and dark skies.
In Victorian times, when Lofftwen briefly became part of a golf course linked to the Dolecoed Country Hotel, Ffos-y-Fign served as the greenskeeper’s cottage. Descendants of the family who travelled from London to live and work here later contacted us, and archive research helped confirm their connection to the house.
Ffos-y-Fign is currently being restored by hand and is expected to open in Summer 2027.
Revealing the original inglenook fireplace during restoration.