Mansion made with stone from medieval castle renovated and on sale for £1.5m

A historic mansion built with stone from Caerphilly Castle is up for sale at £1.5m after being given a new lease of life.

Special permission was given by the Earl of Pembroke for materials to be taken from the nearby derelict castle to help build part of Y Fan (or Van Manor) in 1583.

But the Grade II-listed Tudor mansion fell into disrepair itself, and by 2017, it was described as run-down, damp, mouldy, with mushrooms growing inside.

This was when a London-based couple decided they'd "had enough of the rat race" and bought it for £750,000 with the aim of turning it into a B&B.

"It was high pressure working in the city," said Christine Tallon, 62, who was a lawyer.

"We weren't spending a lot of time in our own house because we were either in the office or commuting to work."

Along with partner Adrian Cole, 68, who was a finance director, they quit their life in Bexley, south-east London, for a change of pace.

But what they ended up taking on was a huge challenge in its own right, albeit in the Welsh valleys, rather than the fast-paced city they were used to.

"I blame Christine. She came across this place which was pretty run-down," Cole said.

The mansion is literally built on the history of Caerphilly as an important site for noblemen and women through the centuries.

It was the rise of the powerful Prince of Wales Llywelyn ap Gruffudd that persuaded Marcher lord Gilbert de Clare that he needed a fortress to protect himself.

He chose Caerphilly as the site for this, and in 1268 began constructing what would become the biggest castle in Wales - and second only to Windsor in the whole of Great Britain.

With massive walls, towers and gatehouses, it would cover 30 acres.

But after the death of Llywelyn, it was no longer needed for defence purposes, so Caerphilly Castle was turned into a palatial home with a hunting park and northern lake.

It passed between earls and their descendants, but fell into decline in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The mansion Y Fan dates back to 1529 and was home of sheriff of Glamorgan and prominent landowner Edward Lewis.

It was his son Thomas Lewis who was able to strike a deal with then-owner of Caerphilly Castle the Earl of Pembroke in 1583.

It allowed him to take stone from the castle, which was at the time largely derelict and abandoned, to be used in the property.

"You can actually see where it is [on the corners of the house]," said Tallon.

Cole insists the couple weren't looking for a renovation project, just somewhere with the potential of being turned into a B&B.

But they kept getting drawn back to Y Fan, and after viewing it eight times, became excited about bringing back to life what they described as "one of the most important houses in Caerphilly".

There were many challenges - starting with the fact the ceilings were so high, they couldn't change a light bulb without scaffolding.

Then there was the fact the property had 132 windows - all of which had to be refurbished.

This was before they even thought about tackling the damp and mouldy walls of the large rooms, or the mushrooms sprouting up.

Despite having no renovation experience, the couple began work on the house in 2018.

They initially hoped to open it as a B&B in the summer of 2020, but the Covid pandemic stopped this happening.

It finally opened with seven rooms in May 2021.

While the couple are remaining tight-lipped on how much they spent renovating the building, they are happy they brought it back to life, and have put it on the market for £1.5m.

"We aren't getting any younger and hospitality is much harder work than a lot of people think it is. It is constant," Tallon said.

"It's time for someone with a lot of energy to take over the mantle."