A beautiful seven-bedroom Edwardian house set on a seaside cliff in North Wales with one of the most majestic views in the British Isles.

Available as two separate flats or one large house; five minute walk to the beach, and one mile to Harlech with castle, restaurants, shops etc, golf course. And of course all within easy reach by car is the fabulous Snowdonia National Park.

This is a high class holiday destination with a family atmosphere, with large gardens, games cabin and modern facilities.

House History

Llys Tanwg was built around 1920. Dr Hewlett Johnson (1874–1966), the ‘Red’ Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, bought the house and surrounding fields in 1931, attracted to the property both by its perfect position, and by the fact that his mother had come to the field before the house was built as a special place for being alone with nature.
Hewlett’s children’s grandchildren are now spending holidays at the house - five generations of the family have enjoyed Llys Tanwg.

The Second World War and its threat of air-raids disturbed the peace of the Deanery in Canterbury such that Nowell Johnson, the Dean’s wife, and her young daughter Kezia were evacuated to Llys Tanwg, and it was during this period that Keren was born. From that time it became more and more of a second family home, with long summer holidays spent there after the 14 - 17 hour car journey from Canterbury. An extension was built above the downstairs kitchen, which is now the upstairs dining, kitchen and utility room and passage, and in the 1960s, Stephen Edwards, Nowell’s brother, retired to Harlech, moving into the downstairs flat with Ruth, his wife.

Stephen was a passionate ornithologist, and from the bay window of their sitting room saw many rare species of birds, including the first sighting of a hoopoe in North Wales since 1924. Stephen, like Nowell and Kezia, was also a fine painter (Nowell being a graduate of the Royal College of Art), and many of their paintings are hanging in the house. Stephen and Ruth moved away in the late 1980s, with the house in need of some substantial repairs.

Then began an era of tenants downstairs, one of whom, the local policeman and his family, were nearly driven mad by the cello of Matthew, Keren’s second son, who lived in the upstairs for
   four months practising for up to 10 hours a day, every day!

Spectacular storms can be seen coming across the bay, but the exposed position of the house, while giving it its expansive views, meant that it was suffering weather-damage that needed repair. The lack of double-glazing or central heating, as well as the open chimneys and unused fires meant that the house was also getting damp and rotten.

In 2002, Kezia and her family decided that they no longer wanted to keep ownership of their share of the house. Then began a period of difficult decisions. Donation to the National Trust was discussed, but in the end, it was decided that the house was too precious to lose for the family. Matthew and Adam (Keren and Simon’s older son) in particular could not bear to lose the home that has felt more like a family home than anywhere else in their lives, and wanted their own children to enjoy it as they had done.

So a concerted family effort began, and Keren bought Kezia’s share of the house in 2003.
Gary Fisher, a skilled and dedicated builder won the contract for complete renovation, and has overseen a top to bottom restoration of the entire house, carefully restoring existing window frames and other timbers, only replacing when absolutely necessary, as well as fitting brand new kitchens and bathrooms, and attending to the hundreds of small details that make somewhere special.

Gardeners brought the surrounding land back to order, and Gary built a spacious heated log games cabin for table tennis, pool and other games.
We hope that lots of people will now come and enjoy all that Llys Tanwg has to offer.

Games Cabin

The Games Cabin is built in the Scandinavian style of log cabins, and has heat and light, making it the perfect place for children to spend a rainy day, leaving others with the peace and quiet of the house.

The cabin is nearly 35 square metres in size, and has a Wendy House in one corner, stuffed full of cushions, with its own reading light. There is a huge blackboard painted panels on the walls, and boxes of chalks, so children can graffiti to their hearts content, as well as using them as scoreboards.

In addition to a range of puzzles and board games, there is also be a full size pool table, table-tennis table (which rests on the pool table, so it is one or the other) and table-football table. It could happily have up to 10 children playing in it at the same time.

Enjoy!

Locality

All within an hour of Llys Tanwg, you can visit historic monuments, castles, and religious sites, ride on the famous narrow-gauge Ffestiniog railway, play golf on one of the world’s greatest courses, go horse-riding or white-water rafting, explore slate caverns, hill walk, mountain or rock climb, river, lake or sea swimming, kitesurf or windsurf, or just stay home and enjoy the beautiful house and it's views, and play in the games room.

Behind the house on foot, you are soon on the hills where there are wonderful walking opportunities.
If you want to set out by car, there are a host of beautiful and isolated spots all under 20 minutes drive away, such as Shell Island, the valleys of Cwm Buchan and Cwm Nantcol, and the mountain range inland where ravens and falcons fly and wild goats can still be seen.

Of course, Snowdonia is internationally known for its fine climbing and walking and beauty of scenery.

Visitor Comments

- “...all we could have hoped for from a holiday home and more. We especially enjoyed the more personal touches – such as books, paintings etc – which make the place feel like a genuine lived in home.”

- “I could feel my heart opening to the beauty of this place, the history of the house, the love behind every single item in it, and the adventures that went into collecting them - a house most lived in and living.”

- “This is a really lovely place, lots of character.”

- “A superb house with its fantastic furnishings, crockery, paintings etc, and the ever-changing wonderful views.”

- “Had a wonderful few days – stunned by the house on arrival.”

- “ The first thing to hit us on arrival was the sense of light and space at Llys Tanwg. That combined with the incredible views had an immediate calming effect.”

- “We have loved this house.”

- “...we have eaten well, laughed loads, and cried to say goodbye.”