History

1859 country house by Talbot T Burry of London for J B Harford of Blaise Castle, Bristol, owner of the Peterwell estate, Lampeter.

Exterior

Italian villa style on an unusually large scale; stuccoed with painted ashlar dressings and deep-eaved low-pitched hipped roofs. Big panelled stacks with corbelled and sometimes gabled caps.

The Main Front is apparently H-plan with a 2-storey centre flanked by 2 storey wings, the left wing being also the entrance front. Extensive and utilitarian ranges behind. The main front has 3-window centre, arched windows above (2-light except for centre single light) and plain below; the ground floor within a glazed lean-to conservatory, apparently mostly rebuilt in C20. Band over ground floor, first floor sill course and band above, all these and a roughly tooled plinth are carried right around the main facades. Upper windows have jambs continued down through sill course to lower band. Two big rear wall stacks.

Wings are more elaborate, one wide bay to front, with side-wall stacks (truncated on right side) deep-eaves overhanging ridge of centre section. The basic decorative arrangement is of a 2-storey tripartite feature of centre French windows and side-lights in a richly pilastered frame, the upper window with curved centre balcony, the whole capped by a lead hipped roof; above, under eaves, triplet of plainly-bordered square attic windows. Rock-faced angle quoins. The tripartite feature has rusticated piers below, carrying corbels to upper pilasters of which centre pair are slimmer and further projected with brackets to cornice. Centre first floor arched French window with wrought iron bow-fronted balcony. The hipped roof was broken forward over centre, but this feature survives only on left wing.

Sides and Rear: These have large quoined chimneybreasts and plain window surrounds to match those of centre or attic. Right side is regular with central chimneybreast, left side has chimneybreast set to right, with 2-window range to left over projecting deep-eaved hipped porch. Porch has Venetian tripartite arrangement of arched door and sidelights, the arch rusticated with monogrammed keystone, dated 1859. Left side has prominent stack on ridge rear, while right side has rear wall stack.

Extensive ranges behind, 2 to 3 storey, those on left side with some architectural treatment to match adjoining entrance front, those on right utilitarian.

Interior

spine passage to rear of front rooms with cramped open well stair off, possibly not the original main stair. Main front rooms have panelled shutters and window reveals, panelled doors, but fireplaces all later replacements. Coffered ceiling in left front room. Considerable internal alterations.

Reasons for Listing

Included as an unusually distinctive example of mid C19 Italianate country house in West Wales.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Falcondale House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q15217283

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House