Fos-y-Rhiew Part 2

Window into the dining room with beautiful roses blooming.  There is something in bloom everywhere you look.

The house at Fos-y-Rheiw has ownership records going back to the early 1700's.  Before that is was part of the Powis Castle lands, so they aren't really sure when the house was built.  Let's just say it's very, very old.  The kitchen has large stones for the floor, probably originally installed with dirt between, but now they are grouted.  The focal point of the kitchen is the Rayburn stove.  It will have a post of it's own.  The walls are over a foot thick throughout the building.

The range side of the kitchen.

The rest of the kitchen.  The stone floors show well in this photo.

The end of the house with the lounge, our bedroom, the back storage area and the shower room, and the loft and master bedroom, were originally the barn.  House and barn were built under the same roof when this was new, now it's all house.

The dining room with the original fireplace where cooking was done.  Now it has an efficient wood stove to keep us warm.

Stairs to the master bedroom and the loft with the lounge area underneath.

The lounge, the stairs lead to the dining room.  The split door to the left goes to our bedroom.

One of my favorite rooms is the main bathroom.  It has all the usual items of a bathroom except for that large slab of slate with the trough etched in it to drain the blood from when you slaughter the pigs.  Did I forget to tell you it was originally the room where the pigs were butchered and salted?  David, the homeowner, tell us it is difficult to keep paint looking good from all the salt content still in the walls.  Now that's a problem I bet you've never had with a bathroom!  There is also a small door with a large step down into the room.  Look at the pictures to see what I mean.

Standing on the floor of the bathroom, with the large step in front of me.

Standing on the step, but behind the doorway.  My head is up against the beam in the room and behind the doorsill.

Now I'm in the dining room, standing in front of the door.  I'm about 5'7" so you can tell it's a very short doorway.

Jude, the homeowner, put pictures of the Dali Lama and Queen Elizabeth on the door. These are two people she admires.  She jokingly says this is so you will remember to bow before you walk through, thus avoiding cracking your skull on the doorframe.  Such a sense of humor!  

At some point the house end was brick faced, leaving the barn end original stone.  This was also done at Powis Castle, so maybe the brick was left overs from the Castle's facelift?  Sounds like a good theory to me.

The brick end is the original house, with the stone end the old barn.  That's a climbing rose on the wall.  It smells really nice.

Between the wonderful house, all the animals and the beautiful country, this is going to be a fun housesit!