Bryn-Y-Ddafad : About Us - The history of Bryn-Y-Ddafad
The original dwelling at Bryn-y-Ddafad is believed to date back to the 16th Century.
Miss Diana Airdre purchased the property from Lydia Hopkins, widow of Thomas Hopkins of Cross Tree Cottage, Aberthin (a village 2 miles away) for £100 in April 1940. Well known by the locals (mainly farmers) as Diana's, the cottage was used as a meeting place and local shop selling commodities such as cigarettes and lemonade. After Diana Airdre died in 1973, Bryn-y-Ddafad was sold at auction to the present owners (Glyn & June Jenkins) for the sum of £4,200. The sale was featured in the property column of a local newspaper in which it was described as "one of the most primitive dwellings to come on the agents' books for some considerable time", having a corrugated iron roof, no electricity or gas supplies and no mains water.
South Wales Echo (William Ricketts) 'Guess the Price', Thursday May 9th 1974.
As the report noted, it was "a country cottage ripe for improvement".
In 1975 we obtained planning consent to extend Bryn-y-Ddafad. Excavation
for the extension revealed the presence of an underground stream that
necessitated the demolition of the original cottage. The construction
work commenced in 1976, on a concrete raft, with all the original stone
being recycled. In December 1977 our family finally moved in. The property
was originally rebuilt as our family home.
View original article here.
Left with an 'empty nest' in
the nineties, we decided to build an extension and, upon completion in
August 1998, to open the property as a guesthouse. In 2002 planning consent
was obtained to convert a very large detached garage and some further
buildings into Y Bwthyn Bach (the little cottage), which was opened in
December that year. The cottage serves as either additional bed & breakfast
accommodation or as a self catering unit. In 2006 further outbuildings
were converted into new garages.
Bryn-y-Ddafad is open all year except
when friends housesit while we are on holiday. It is also home to our
two very friendly black Labrador retrievers, Danny and Lollo
who sleep in the utility room but are not allowed elsewhere in
the house. The two remaining residents are our cats Scout (black & white)
and Holly (black) who live in the outbuildings. We are also home to a
large family of house sparrows all year and house martins spend their
summer holidays with us. Buzzards and heron are often spotted in the vicinity
and occasionally Canada Geese who nest on local ponds. Apart from some
assistance with the cleaning, the business is run entirely by us and guests
can be assured of receiving our personal care and attention at all times.