Standing the Test of Time 1803-2022

We’re honoured to be one of the go to contractors for the national trust. Wales is unique in it’s ancient history. Some buildings such as Dolaucothi Estate have existed even before the founding of the US. A little peek into it’s past reveals some interesting facts..

The estate is located north-west of the village of Caio up the picturesque Cothi Valley in the community of Cynwyl Gaeo, in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Its name of Dolaucothi means ‘the meadows of the Cothi’. The medieval manor house overlooking the fast-flowing River Cothi was rebuilt by the Johnes family and, in 1873, the estate encompassed 3,172 acres.

Johnes Family:

Dolaucothi devolved upon the Johnes family in the late 16th century through the marriage of James Johnes, Sheriff of Cardiganshire (1586) to Anne (1565–1600), widow of James Lewis, of Llanbadarn Fawr; she was heiress to John ap Thomas, of Cryngae and Dolaucothi, brother of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, KG. James Johnes was the youngest son of Sir Thomas Johnes, MP (1492–1559), of Abermarlais, Carmarthenshire and inherited the Haroldston estate, Pembrokeshire through his wife, Dame Mary, widow of Sir Thomas Perrott, daughter and heiress of the Hon Sir James Berkeley. Sir Thomas Johnes was returned to Parliament as first Knight of the Shire, before being appointed in 1541 Sheriff of Carmarthenshire and of Cardiganshire in 1544. John Johnes (1768–1815), a former army captain, purchased the estate in 1800 from his cousin and brother-in-law, Colonel Thomas Johnes, FRS, MP (1748–1816), owner of the great Hafod Estate and Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire.

Architecture:

Dolaucothi House was rebuilt in the early 18th century with a five-bay, three-storey façade. Retaining some original features, in 1679, it had 6 hearths; described as ‘simple and dignified’, the house was rebuilt in cube-formation with 28 rooms. John Nash (1752–1835) was employed in 1792 to add the porch and two low wings, each with a window in a recessed arch. At that time, Nash had just finished working on the famous octagonal domed-library and square pavilions at Hafod for Colonel Thomas Johnes. His Hon. Judge John Johnes, JP, DL Captain John Johnes’ son, also named John (1800–1876), became a judge, who commissioned various refurbishments, including having the wings raised adding bay windows in 1871. In its heyday Dolaucothi retained a domestic staff of nine with eighteen more working on the estate. Dolaucothi is noted as having interiors of much charm, displaying many portraits as well as the Eastern war trophies of the celebrated General Hills, VC.

Murder in the Mannor:

Judge Johnes was educated at Oxford before being called to the Bar. He was a good businessman and soon had put the whole estate on a sound financial basis. In 1822 he married Elizabeth Edwardes, daughter and heiress of the Revd John Edwardes (1765–1847), of Gileston in Glamorganshire, a younger branch of the family of Edwardes, of Rhyd-y-gors. They had two daughters, Charlotte Anne Maria (1825–1911) and Elizabeth (1834–1927). Judge Johnes became a widower when his wife died on 25 June 1848. Charlotte married Captain Charles Caesar Cookman, eldest son of Edward Rogers Cookman, Esq. of Monart House, County Wexford, but Captain Cookman died on 4 June 1859 leaving her a widow.

In the autumn of 1864, John Johnes was briefly mentioned as a potential parliamentary candidate for Carmarthen Boroughs following the death of David Morris. However, William Morris, JP, a cousin of the late member was elected unopposed.

But in the summer of 1876, Dolaucothi made national news when Judge John Johnes was murdered in his library on 19 August by Henry Tremble, his Irish butler of 17 years’ service, “who killed him with his master’s shotgun”. Tremble also severely wounded Mrs Charlotte Cookman. Tremble was most upset that the judge had refused his application for the tenancy of the Dolaucothi Arms, a local public house, previously promised to him. Judge Johnes’ reasons for turning down his application to become landlord concerned Tremble’s wife’s disposition for drinking excessively.

Tremble then headed into the village of Caio with the intention of murdering John Davies, the inn-keeper he felt had deprived him of the position he sought. Davies was away in Carmarthen that day so, after threatening a local police constable, he returned home to ‘Myrtle Cottage’ where he shot himself.

Henry Tremble, 36, entered domestic service at Dolaucothi upon the death of Captain Cookman in 1859. Tremble (whose collateral descendants include the Northern Ireland politician David Trimble) had been his valet in Ireland, and he had accompanied him to Wales upon his marriage to Charlotte. At Dolaucothi he worked his way up to the position of butler but was known to possess a somewhat violent disposition. John Johnes would have dismissed him on several occasions previously had he not been dissuaded from doing so by Charlotte, who felt that this would betray the memory of her late husband who had commended the care of his favourite servant to her.

On 26 August 1876 Judge Johnes’ remains were interred in the family vault at Saint Cynwyl’s, where Canon Phillips, subsequently Dean of St. David’s, and the Revd Charles Chidlow, vicar of Caio, officiated. Charlotte resumed the name of Johnes under her father’s Will of 1876 and lived out her days at Dolaucothi, inherited jointly with her sister, Lady Hills-Johnes.

Sir James Hill-Johnes:

Lieutenant-General Sir James Hills (1833–1919), Victoria Cross recipient, hero of the Indian Mutiny and former Military Governor of Kabul married the younger sister and co-heiress, Elizabeth Johnes, in 1882. Accordingly, Sir James assumed, by Royal Licence, the additional surname and coat of arms of Johnes, becoming Lieutenant-General Sir James Hills-Johnes, VC, GCB. He then took over the running of the Dolaucothi estate and played an important part in Welsh life, becoming honorary colonel of the 4th Battalion of the Welch Regiment, JP and DL, and later High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1886.

Granted the honorary freedom of Carmarthen in 1910, General Hills-Johnes also served as treasurer of University College Wales (1898–1919), receiving the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1917. Sir James Hills-Johnes with fellow VC, the Earl Roberts, at Dolaucothy in Edwardian times. Lady Hills-Johnes had in her early days been a ward of Lady Llanover moving in fashionable and literary circles, her “life on one occasion” being saved by the great Lord Lytton. Her correspondence with the famous Bishop of St Davids, Dr Connop Thirlwall, was published in 1881 under the title ‘Letters to a Friend’.

Dolaucothi House was always full of guests, among them many distinguished men and women, not least Field Marshal the Earl Roberts (1832–1914) and Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841–1904), explorer of Africa. Lord Roberts and Sir James began their lifelong friendship as cadets at Addiscombe Military Seminary. Roberts joined the Bengal Horse Artillery in 1851, and Sir James, 11 months his junior, was commissioned into the same corps in 1853. Both experienced the dangers and perils of the Indian Mutiny, were present at the Siege of Delhi and took part in the operations at the Relief of Lucknow. Both were dangerously wounded at the Siege of Delhi and before the Mutiny ended, they both were awarded the Victoria Cross.

A decade later they served together again in the Abyssinian and Kabul campaigns and in 1881 the pair received thanks from both Houses of Parliament. Charlotte Johnes died in 1911, Sir James in 1919 and Lady Johnes-Hill at the grand age of 95 in 1927. Upon their deaths the Dolaucothi estate passed through a female line to the Lloyds who then added the additional surname of Johnes. The house was requisitioned by the Ministry of Supply during World War II when it fell into serious disrepair with floors collapsing and lead being removed from the roof. Dolaucothi was presented to the National Trust in 1941 subject to the life interest of its last owner, Major Herbert Lloyd-Johnes following whose death, in 1956, the property and lordship of the manor became wholly owned by the National Trust. Major Lloyd-Johnes’ daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, is married to Geoffrey Stevens, kinsman of the Dukes of Newcastle, then Earls of Lincoln. The only remnant of the mansion, demolished in 1952, is a former service block, now an estate farmhouse featured above.

Article Written by Joanne Ridout- Property Editor For Cymru Online

Inside the Tenby renovation property that took 28 years to change from rundown to truly gorgeous.

If you were wandering down the cliff-top, coast hugging road in Tenby called The Croft about 28 years ago you would have passed a rather dull looking building on the corner where the street meets the road called The Norton. It was the Ocean Hotel, and it occupied arguably one of the most impressive prime positions within this Pembrokeshire seaside town, and the property’s incredible location had not gone unnoticed by couple Michael and Betty Keohane originally from Narberth and Dublin repectively, but living in Tenby. So when the hotel was put on the market in 1994 Michael was very excited. Working as a master builder, he had the vision to see what it could become and was desperate to buy it, but Betty was not so keen, she wasn’t feeling the love.

Betty, 64, says: “It was Mike who wanted the house, it’s a very beautiful house on the outside and it was the potential of it that captivated Mike, he knew he would be making it into a show piece, he wanted to create this amazing property. “It didn’t captivate me, I didn’t have an emotional reaction to it really. It was more the position of it really, right by the sea, amazing views of the sea every day from every window. It sits on one of the most photographed spots in Tenby, with uninterrupted views looking directly into the harbour and across Carmarthen Bay.” And Betty might have refused involvement with the house purchase if she’d known that the property would take 28 years to renovate and restore. This is surely one of the longest renovation projects in the town and maybe even the county and “the most talked about renovation in Tenby” in Betty’s view. The house is located above Tenby’s North Beach and achieved a Grade II listing from Cadw in 2002 for being ‘a large and prominently sited house with unusual Tudor Gothic detail’.

Records reveal that the house was built around the mid 19th century as a picturesque Tudor-style two-storey house called Croft Cottage and was occupied by Elizabeth Howell in 1881, who was 99 years of age at the time. During the next section of its life it became the Bay Hotel and later the Ocean Hotel.

When the hotel closed Betty says it started to slip into a state of dilapidation. She says: “We received the keys to the house in the run-up to Christmas in 1994, with the property essentially an uninhabitable nine-bedroom shell, my son was just a toddler at the time – now he is a 29-year-old man.

“When we bought it it was like a rabbit’s warren, the layout was horrendous so we wouldn’t have lived in it. We bought it as a going concern with all the kit still in it that we had to throw out, but my husband had a long term vision, he’s the master builder, he could see what it would one day become.”

And that day has now arrived at long last, and the property looks truly gorgeous inside and out. But there are a number of reasons why the house has been revived so slowly, the first being the amount of work that was actually needed at the site but was not immediately obvious.

Betty says: “When we bought it, we were excited, but we didn’t realise how much work there was because it still had all the wallpaper on the wall, and it was all furnished.

“Our friends and family were thinking ‘are you mad?’ in some ways, as there was a lot of work to do. I’m not sure if Mike saw the amount of work that needed doing at the beginning, but if he did, he certainly wouldn’t have told me!

“We may as well have knocked the house down and built it from scratch but Mike wanted to keep it with the same look, so everything is replaced, from chimney stacks to the facade, the windows and the facias to replicate what was once there.

“Everything had to be stripped back, you could look from the bottom of the building when we started the renovation right through to the roof.” Another drain on the timescale was time itself, with the couple still working full-time jobs during the majority of the 28-year period in what turned out to be the ultimate lifetime’s work by 78 year-old master builder Mike.

Betty says: “People don’t realise the extent of the work that’s gone on in the house and we were both working so it wasn’t a full-time project, it was part-time until the last few years.

“For the first few years after we bought it we just left it, thinking we’d get round to it, then we had to decide what we were going to do with it, and then all the work was major work, like the roof – it’s been a huge project, it took time, it’s really been quite a long project.”

Betty says nothing about the renovation was a challenge for Mike because he understands buildings, so for him the main challenge was time, fitting the mountain of work around his full-time job at the same time. Betty says: “Every single thing needed doing, from the basement that had to be dug out because it was like a dungeon with no doors, to the roof.”

Finance was another aspect of the project that added to the time it has taken to complete the project, with the couple waiting to firstly earn the money to then spend on it. Add to that the intriguing design elements and expensive extra details that Mike wanted to bring to the house, such as the art deco ceiling in the lounge and the bespoke staircase.

Financially it’s been a huge cost over the 28-year journey, although they did only pay £180,000 to own it back in the 1990s. Betty says: “It has cost a hell of a lot of money, within the region of six figures but you wouldn’t have to touch that house now for hundreds and hundreds of years. It’s all been done.

“A lot of the main work took many, many years to get done and then you realise the final stages are a lot of money too, and then we had to stop and think, now we have to have a big push – that final stage was the hardest bit because everything was so expensive and Mike will only use the best of everything.”

The renovation project was a huge commitment for the couple with Mike doing most of the work himself, with substantial assistance by his son Sean too, as well as some contractors for the main structural elements. But Mike has been there from day one to now, controlling every decision, every detail to ensure Ocean House is the best it can be.

Another aspect of the project that added to the time it took to complete was planning, including discussions and applications with the national park authority and all the changes and additions that had to be agreed with Cadw, including the new balcony above the porch.

Betty says: “We had quite a wait for permissions and planning, so that took quite a few years, getting approval for everything we wanted to do.”

Being in such a prominent position and a well-known property in the town, the project has had a local audience watching the couple slowly transform the building into the stunner it is now.

Betty says: “People say, ‘have you finished it yet, when are you going to finish it? I’ve been walking past it for years!’ I reply, ‘probably next year it’ll be finished, definitely next year it will be finished!’ – and now it is finally finished.

“Everybody talks about it now and over the last few years people have been photographing it and people have wanted to come in and have a look, professional people as well as locals, who have been really supportive.”

Now the final layer of paint is dry and the finishing touches are complete and the couple can breathe a sigh of relief; Ocean House has been reborn. The property now has five ensuite bedrooms, a high-end, sociable open-plan kitchen and living room area, multimedia room in the basement, new windows that replicate the originals, and a terrace with views out over North Beach and onto the Tenby Harbour. Betty had a few years to contemplate the style and interior design for the inside of the house once the end was in sight, and the core of her choices were luxury and comfort, dressed with a modern blend of colours that promote a sense of calm and inspired by the location.

Betty says: “I wanted to keep the walls blank and bring in colour brought in via art and fabrics, but also a muted palette that blends and flows and connects each room. With the bathrooms I wanted them to look the same, and luxury, like you’d find in a hotel.” The combination of shades of blue and teal accented with rich shades of orange directly relate to the views happening at every window, from the layers of sea and sky blue to the multiple tones of the unique sunsets over the water. Betty has been inspired by the property’s front row seat to the glorious colours of nature outside and brought them inside to establish an indoor outdoor connection but without the colours over-whelming the spaces or detracting from the views, with the white walls adding a crisp, modern backdrop to it all.

The fabrics are sumptuous, the materials steeped in nature with modern metal accents. Arguably the biggest show-stopper is the bespoke, Italian made staircase that looks like a work of art itself, complemented by a bespoke central statement light that hangs from the top of the building right down to the basement.

Extra colour that supports the scheme throughout and adds a further modern flavour are the four abstract prints by artist Yossi Kotler. Betty was very clear she didn’t want country landscapes or seascapes – there is enough natural, real-life artwork happening out of every window, so the prints have been used to help tie the colour palette of the house together.

But Betty’s favourite feature in the house is the inglenook fireplace that the couple decided to turn into an inviting seating area, as the insulation at the house is now so good Betty says a log burner or open fireplace would never be used. All the details to discover inside the house illustrate Mike’s thirst for ensuring that every element is high quality and the best it can be, carefully sourcing top-quality materials and furniture from suppliers across Europe. Betty’s interior design choices have added colour and life to the house, layers of luxury for the guests while ensuring the location has also informed the decor.

Attention to detail – every detail possible – has always been at the core of the project that includes Betty’s interiors that are the final piece in the puzzle of this long renovation project, there’s no ‘making-do’, everything had to be right and of high quality. And there’s relief that the finish line has now been crossed. The house is now available to hire as a whole property for celebrations and family and friends to gather for a holiday, with five bedrooms that can sleep up to 14 people, and all of them can boast a sea view, cementing the reason why Betty stayed onboard with the long renovation and didn’t jump ship – the unique corner location of the property.

But Betty is never going to enjoy it. She says: “I’m very happy, I love the house, but I don’t ever want to stay in it, funny that, isn’t it? I just can’t bring myself to – I’ve done it for other people, I’m handing it over to the guests now.