The Gelli is a small country house situated between Tallarn Green and Tybroughton in Wrexham County Borough, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. It is a Grade II* listed building standing in a prominent position on the edge of a hill.

History

The Gelli was designed by the Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

 architect John Douglas

John Douglas (architect)

John Douglas was an English architect who designed about 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised throughout his career from an office in Chester, Cheshire...

 and built in 1877 for the Honourables Georgina and Henrietta Kenyon, who were the daughters of the 3rd Baron Kenyon of Gredlington

Lloyd Kenyon, 3rd Baron Kenyon

Lloyd Kenyon, 3rd Baron Kenyon , was a British peer and Member of Parliament.Kenyon was the son of George Kenyon, 2nd Baron Kenyon, and Margaret Emma Hanmer. His grandfather was Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon, Master of the Rolls and Lord Chief Justice of England...

.

Architecture

The house is built in three ranges (wings), each at right angle

Right angle

In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle that bisects the angle formed by two halves of a straight line. More precisely, if a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles...

s to each, other forming a zigzag

Zigzag

A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular....

 or "domino" shape. It is constructed mainly in brick, with red sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 and terracotta dressings, and with some timber framing

Timber framing

Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...

 in the upper storey. The roofs are tiled and the chimney stacks are brick.

The west-facing range entrance range has 2½ storeys with a tower at its south end. The tower has a pyramidal roof with a weather vane

Weather vane

A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....

 incorporating the letter "K". The upper storey is jettied

Jettying

Jettying is a building technique used in medieval timber frame buildings in which an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. This has the advantage of increasing the available space in the building without obstructing the street...

 and timber-framed and its tie beam

Tie (engineering)

A tie, structural tie, connector, or structural connector is a structural component designed to resist tension. It is the opposite of a strut, which is designed to resist compression. Ties are generally made of galvanized steel...

 includes a painted panel inscribed "G and H K 1877". The northeast range projects behind this and also has a turret with louvred

Louver

A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...

 openings for a pigeon loft

Dovecote

A dovecote or dovecot is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in...

. The third range projects forward at the south end; it is in one storey, and comprises the coach house

Carriage house

A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...

, stable

Stable

A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...

s and accommodation for the groom

Groom (horses)

A groom is a person who is responsible for some or all aspects of the management of horses and/or the care of the stables themselves. The term most often refers to a person who is the employee of a stable owner, but even an owner of a horse may perform the duties of a groom, particularly if the...

.

Internally the fittings and details are described as being "typically Douglas", although they are in pine rather than in his usual oak. The principal feature is the stair hall and staircase. The latter has baluster

Baluster

A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...

s and newel

Newel

A newel, also called a central pole, is an upright post that supports the handrail of a stair banister. In stairs having straight flights it is the principal post at the foot of the staircase, but it can also be used for the intermediate posts on landings and at the top of a staircase...

s and it leads by a quarter-turn to an arcaded

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....

 landing.

Critique

In its listing, it is described as "a very well preserved small country house in the Domestic Revival

Vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...

style characteristic of John Douglas, combining originality of planning and a rich vocabulary of detail in a striking picturesque composition.