I came, I saw, I enjoyed, I didn’t want to go home – ever
Travelling around Wales there are so many towns and villages that can boast a unique collection of historic and stunning period properties, eye-catching contemporary constructions, and cute cottages that are either private dwellings or holiday lets.
But with a substantial choice of places to stay it can feel overwhelming to decide on a property that can wrap you up in the most wonderful of settings as the backdrop to creating lasting and life-enhancing memories with family or friends.
Enter Great House to instantly help with the decision – a grand yet warm and welcoming Georgian house that nestles along the road into the unique township of Laugharne, once described by poet Dylan Thomas as ‘the strangest town in Wales’. Just from the impressive front façade you know this property is going to be special, but its interiors and facilities easily soared past my expectations. For more home, renovation and interiors stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.
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Writing about property for too many years to remember, I have seen, visited and stayed at so many houses and homes and they have all been special but staying at Great House is truly a standout experience.
Arriving at the property there is a small, dead-end road to meander down before you find an unassuming single garage door – surely this isn’t it? – it didn’t look very grand! But press the button for the automatic door and the back of the house and garden is slowly revealed as the garage opens, and it is breathtaking.
The rear of the huge and commanding house soars up four-storeys not the three suggested from the front elevation. Enclosed within its private stone walls are a lower lawn, a terrace with heated swimming pool against a backdrop of magnolia trees, a terrace for alfresco dining with a sizeable table and enough chairs to easily host more than the ten guests this property can accommodate.
As you drive through the garage to the private drive next to the lawn that can accommodate three cars, the door closes behind you there’s a feeling of being fully cocooned within this wonderful property’s boundaries, away from the busy and stressful world outside.
Your first glimpse inside the house is via the lower ground floor where a welcoming kitchen lounge diner greets you with character supplied by the exposed stone walls. In the cosy lounge incorporated into the space is the original stone staircase that once gave access to the street at the front for receiving deliveries when this was a working manor house.
The property is Grade II* listed, a higher level of award given by Cadw to only around 7% of listed buildings in Wales, so there’s no argument to be had about how important The Great House is to Welsh heritage.
The lower floor is a very social space, with a well-equipped kitchen that includes two tower fridge freezers, a dishwasher and double oven with six electric hobs above it, encased within a huge island unit.
My star turn in the kitchen is beans on toast with a slice of cheese under the beans with a sprinkling of soy sauce – try it – so I happily left the first night’s meal to my sister who is a culinary goddess, somehow managing to create delicious meals from scratch with memorable flavour combinations that everyone loves. She’s cooked in many kitchens and her feedback for Great House was glowing.
But arguably it’s upstairs on the ground floor, and then ascending the sweeping staircase to the two upper floors, where the house really impresses, with enough Instagram-worthy rooms, features and items to keep even the keenest influencers busy.
The ground floor has a drawing room and a library at the front of the house accessed from the typically symmetrical Georgian design of a central and wide hallway. Plasterwork, panelling, fireplaces, windows with shutters and seats all demand attention in these quiet and atmospheric spaces.
At the back of the house is the banqueting hall with an inglenook fireplace so large the whole group could stand up in it. The full size of the fireplace was only discovered and set free from the bricks that had blocked it up for decades when the current owner was restoring and renovating the house.
Bought in 1997 after it had been on the market for over 15 years according to the owner, he set about slowly and carefully bringing back its Georgian grandness back but with an emphasis on creating inviting and comfortable spaces – it took him over ten years.
We used the banqueting hall on the first night to enjoy a family meal together – not my beans on toast – and with the soft lighting, being enveloped in a dark colours, and sitting next to the largest china dresser I’ve ever seen, I felt shrouded in the historic atmosphere and knew we were joining the surely hundreds of people who would have enjoyed dining in this intimate space over the centuries.
The final room on this floor was the bedroom that made us gasp because the four-poster bed was a stunner, with plush, rich pink fabric ruched under the canopy for extra impact.
This bedroom had the best shower I’ve ever used – a rainforest head that was huge plus a hand held bonus shower head and I could use them both at the same time. Surely the boiler at the house must be a beast because at one point every one of the four bathrooms was being used, a combination of showers and baths, and the pressure and heat remained unaffected – impressive.
Then to the grand staircase that rewards your visit with the most incredible half-landing window that demands you linger and look out over the garden and pool. Then climb again to discover two ensuite bedrooms, both with statement beds and huge ensuites with a traditional roll-top bath placed in the middle of each – one pink, one blue.
Also with a shower and the biggest basins we’d all ever seen, these ensuites were popular with the younger generation in our group, with comments including ‘the grandest bathroom I’ve ever been in!’.
During the first afternoon lunch at the huge alfresco dining table and then swimming and playing in the pool, joined by some jugs of Pimms, were on the ‘to do’ list.
Some people might say we were unlucky with the weather, we had occasional showers and a moderate breeze as the unwanted filling between the two summer heatwave, but the first day was dry and we enjoyed spending time together in the pool and lounging next to it when the sun did grace us with its presence intermittently between the clouds that rushed across the sky.
The first evening we spent time together on the bonus top floor, the converted loft level with the most intoxicating exposed roof structure that has us all regularly looking up and admiring in wonder. We watched football on the large smart television (plus there was ample Wi-Fi for everyone, boosted throughout the house) as well as played pool until the early hours.
The next day, after a slow start because the beds were all so comfortable, the house had so much to do – books, games, DVDs – and spaces to share and enjoy we almost didn’t make it out of the front door at all!
But eventually Laugharne was calling and we indulged in the tourist list – castle, boat house, walk along the estuary as well as wandered up to Milk Wood House on the fabulous Dylan Coastal Resort but didn’t have time for a spa visit or treatment – next time maybe.
The house is well placed as a base for exploring the coastline across Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, including Pendine Sands, Pembrey, Tenby and Saundersfoot, as well as castles, houses and estates and nature reserves and country parks to explore as well as children focused sites such as Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo.
That evening we ate at Ty Glo, a fabulous pizza and burger restaurant inside a property tucked away along a cobbled lane that one local resident once told me was the maintenance building for the local coach which her family owned, find out more about that here.
Alternatives include Dexters at Browns, one of poet and author Dylan Thomas’ favourite hang-outs, Poons Street Food, The Globe Bar and Restaurant, Milk Wood Bar & Kitchen at Dylan Coastal Resort, The Owl and the Pussycat, The Carpenters Arms, Castle View Fish & Chips, The Cross House Inn and just outside the township, Stone Range Café.
Maybe one of these establishments will be on the agenda next time, and there will be a next time and it will be at The Great House because it is the most welcoming and character-packed properties I have ever had the privilege to visit, let alone be fortunate to stay for a while and soak up its special and relaxing ambience.
Of course some of the floors are wonky and some of the walls aren’t straight, giving the house its authentic historic charm, and, yes, the house chats to you during your visit – creaking floorboards here and there and the odd squeaky door latch – and I would like to chat back to this remarkable property and say thank you so much for hosting such a special time with my family.
Bookings for The Great House, Laugharne, can be made via Great Welsh Escapes, with prices starting from £295 per night depending on the time of year and length of stay. Visit the website here or call 01994 220629. For more property, renovation, and interior design stories join our Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group here.
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