In 1583, stone from a ruined Welsh castle was used to build this mansion; 400 years later, a couple bought it for £750,000 and restored it

The historic Y Fan mansion in Caerphilly, South Wales, has a past that reaches back to the Tudor period. Parts of the Grade II-listed house were rebuilt in 1583 using dressed stone taken from nearby Caerphilly Castle, which was then largely derelict. Centuries later, the mansion itself had fallen into serious disrepair. In 2017, London couple Christine Tallon and Adrian Cole bought it for £750,000 and began a demanding restoration. Their work eventually turned the neglected property into a 7-room bed and breakfast, and in 2026 the restored mansion was placed on the market for £1.5 million.How did the 1583 Welsh mansion gain stone from Caerphilly CastleY Fan has a recorded history dating to 1529, when Edward Lewis, sheriff of Glamorgan and a prominent landowner, acquired a house on the site. The Gatehouse Gazetteer records that the original building included a ground-floor hall and a storeyed porch, with a two-storey kitchen wing added during the 16th century.In 1583, Edward Lewis's son Thomas secured a lease of Caerphilly Castle from the Earl of Pembroke. He then used dressed stone from the castle to rebuild parts of Van House, including a new stair block, gatehouse and walled court. The material came from the castle when it was already in a neglected state. The Gatehouse Gazetteer identifies the surviving property as one of the important Tudor mansions of Glamorgan, despite the extensive restoration it has undergone.BBC later reported that the connection can still be seen in the mansion itself, particularly around its corners, where some of the reused castle stone remains visible. The house therefore carries pieces of Caerphilly Castle within its own walls.The house had a long decline before its modern restorationY Fan did not remain at the centre of the Lewis family's life forever. According to the Gatehouse Gazetteer, Sir Edward Lewis transferred his seat to St Fagans Castle in 1616. After the main family line was no longer based in Glamorgan, Van House became less important. The property eventually passed into the Plymouth Estate and was leased to tenants.Over time, parts of the building were altered, extended or dismantled. By 1991, the Gatehouse record notes that some of the lower-storey windows had been removed and only the bases of the attic windows survived. The building was later thoroughly restored, helping to preserve its Tudor character.That long period of decline meant the mansion was in very poor condition when Tallon and Cole encountered it. BBC reported that by 2017 it was damp and mouldy, with mushrooms growing inside.Why did a London couple take on the neglected propertyChristine Tallon and Adrian Cole had been living and working in Bexley, south-east London. Tallon was a lawyer and Cole a finance director, and the couple wanted a different pace of life.BBC reported that their city careers had left them spending much of their time either working or commuting. They were not initially searching for a major restoration project. Instead, they saw Y Fan as a property that could potentially become a bed and breakfast.After viewing the mansion 8 times, however, they decided to take it on. They bought it for £750,000 and began the restoration, despite Cole having no previous renovation experience.The scale of the task quickly became clear. The house had 132 windows that needed refurbishment, while its tall ceilings meant that even changing a light bulb could require scaffolding. The damp and mould affecting the large rooms added another layer of work.The restoration turned the old mansion into a B&BWork began in 2018, with the couple tackling the building themselves while also dealing with the demands of restoring a historic property. A later account of the project described the building as having required extensive attention to its walls, ceilings, heating, plumbing and electrics.The renovation was originally expected to lead to a B&B opening in summer 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted those plans, however, and the opening was pushed back.According to the BBC, Y Fan finally opened with 7 rooms in May 2021. The restored property retained its historic identity while taking on a new role as accommodation for visitors.What happens next for the 500-year-old propertyAfter years of work, the couple decided it was time to move on. In June 2026, the BBC reported that Y Fan was being offered for £1.5 million, twice the price the couple paid for it in 2017. They have not disclosed how much they spent on the restoration.The decision was linked to the demands of running a hospitality business from such a large historic house. Tallon told the BBC that they were getting older and that hospitality was more demanding than many people might expect. The work carried out by Tallon and Cole gave Y Fan a new use without erasing the history embedded in its structure.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.