Goetre, Llanfynydd, Carmarthenshire

The beautiful red raddle exterior of this four-bedroom Carmarthenshire farmhouse is a striking presence amid the surrounding grassy slopes. Inside, it has been renovated with the utmost care and sensitivity: rich lime plasters have been added between original beams and hearty elm floorboards. It spans some 4,200 sq ft across two storeys and encompasses a two-room pottery studio. Outside, an extensive, marvellously landscaped garden is home to a vegetable plot that provides scope for self-sufficient living.



Setting the Scene



Goetre, in its entirety, comprises a series of interconnected former agricultural buildings: an original farmhouse, a milking parlour, a cowshed and a hayloft in all spanning 120 ft in length. Effortlessly wedded to a quiet and peaceful pocket of the Welsh landscape, the house is tucked into a hillside at the end of its own track.



Colour has been applied throughout the house, from the rust-coloured paint (traditionally used for marking sheep) on the outside, to the characterful and unique schemes used in each bedroom. Throughout, the impeccable execution of the renovation demonstrates an intimate understanding of the building, and a desire to amplify, rather than overshadow, its context and palpable history.



We previously wrote about life at Goetre in The Modern House's Journal.



The Grand Tour



There are three entrances at the front of the house, each leading into the series of free-flowing living spaces across the ground floor.



Centrally, a bright entrance hall is finished in unpainted lime plaster with exposed layers of paint and lime washes. On one end of the house is a wonderfully welcoming kitchen. A creamy distemper has been applied to the walls, and there is an original patchwork-tile floor. A hand-crafted larder has deep-drawers and a stone sink. Bespoke folding doors divide the kitchen from a beautiful panelled dining room with softly painted walls, an original stone fireplace and shuttered sash-windows framing views to the

cottage garden.



From the central hallway, there is a library or snug with a wood-burning stove in a large inglenook fireplace. The drawing room, once the milking parlour, is interlinked: this is an incredibly elegant space coloured in pigment-tinted limewash. It has a large open brick fireplace with a Welsh slate hearth. Wide polished elm boards run underfoot, secured in place with handmade nails. A soft light streams through shuttered sash windows, with heavy cast-iron radiators below.



A series of bedrooms, interconnected by ledged and braced doors, span the first floor, each with characterful sloping ceilings and thick beams.



The principal bedroom (the former hay loft) has large glass doors that open onto the garden to one side, where hay carts once unloaded directly. Hand-finished elm boards run underfoot, and the high ceiling is cross-hatched with stripped oak beams. A simple, working brick fireplace is set against textured lime plaster walls and thick poplar doors with hand-forged latches and slim Belgian ironmongery. A deep walk-in dressing room with hand-crafted joinery sits adjacent. Its en suite is lined with resinous cedar panels and has an impressive Welsh slate slab forming the shower base with underfloor heating below.



In addition to the bedrooms and bathrooms, there is a large two-room studio space on the opposite side of the landing. A single-flight elm staircase leads down to the bright ground-floor hallway, finished with high-quality brass door furniture and a flagstone floor. A cloakroom and ground-floor bathroom with a pennant stone sink and brass taps are interlinked, and a large utility room is positioned adjacent with four bays of linen cupboards and a laundry chute. There is also a library and a second snug room with a wood-burning stove.



The Great Outdoors



Wonderfully varied and productive gardens wrap the house. The orchard has been restored, and dense borders brim with foxgloves, scented climbing roses and violet shots of verbena. A willow hedge divides the lawn from the expansive no-dig organic vegetable plot, large enough to feed a family. Sheds and outbuildings offer ample storage provision, and there is a separate pottery studio next to the house.



Out and About



Goetre is surrounded by rolling Welsh countryside and superbly remote, sitting in the beautiful and wild Cothi Valley, 10 minutes' walk from a fast-flowing salmon river.



Carmarthen is a 25-minute drive away and has a good selection of independent shops and restaurants, including Wrights Food in nearby Llanarthne, which has hosted food events with chefs such as Honey & Co and Rachel Roddy and has a great deli and restaurant.



The pretty town of Llandeilo is also within easy reach, and the area is well-known for its extensive walking and cycling routes through the Tywi Valley, up onto the Carmarthen Fans and breathtaking Brecon Beacons. There are nationally important mountain biking trails in the Brechfa forest, four miles away, and the Pembrokeshire coast is a 50-minute journey north, south and west. London is approximately three and a half hours by car.



Council Tax Band: F