New House Hotel
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| New House Hotel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | House (now a hotel) |
| Location | Thornhill, Cardiff, Glamorgan |
| Coordinates | 51°32′59″N 3°12′46″W / 51.5498°N 3.2128°W |
| Built | c.1795 |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical |
| Owner | Privately owned |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | New House Hotel |
| Designated | 10 June 1977 |
| Reference no. | 13937 |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | The Long Barn and attached courtyard wall, gates and railings |
| Designated | 11 June 1977 |
| Reference no. | 15758 |
  Location of New House Hotel in Cardiff | |
New House Hotel is a former country house, now a hotel, in Thornhill, Cardiff, Wales. Dating from around 1795, it was built for Thomas Lewis, a descendant of Thomas Lewis (died 1764), a founder of the Dowlais Ironworks and prominent local landowner through his own descent from the Lewises of Van. The original Thomas Lewis built a mansion near the site which was destroyed by fire in the mid-18th century and the present building was its replacement. New House Hotel is a Grade II* listed building.
The Lewises of Van descended from Sir Edward Lewis (1508–1561). Establishing himself at The Van, south of Caerphilly, Sir Edward built up a large landholding in Glamorgan, serving as Sheriff in 1548, 1555, and 1559.[1] A descendant, Thomas Lewis (1699–1764) was the original founder of the Dowlais Ironworks[2] which he began as the Methir Furnace, and later converted to the Dowlais Works in partnership with seven others in 1759.[3] Lewis built himself a mansion near the Thornhill site overlooking Cardiff but this was destroyed by fire after his death and the present replacement was constructed by his descendant, another Thomas, in around 1795.[4]
New House was converted to a hotel in the 20th century.[5]
Architecture and description
The building is of two storeys and seven bays,[6] with attics, under a Welsh slate roof.[4] The architectural historian John Newman, in his Glamorgan volume of the Buildings of Wales, describes the façade as "strangely gauche". [7] The house is listed at Grade II*.[4] The Long Barn (formerly the stables) is also listed at II.[8] The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales also holds details of the house's garden wall,[9] the gate piers and railings,[10] and the stables on its Coflein database.[11]