Aberteifi / Nant Saeson

A few miles up the river at Gwbert stands Nant Saeson.

This area, along with parts of Carmarthenshire, could be characterised as the home of the bungalow. Bungalows are comfortable, convenient, and cheap to build…. but they can’t be described as the pinnacle of Welsh architectural achievements.

Not so Nant Saeson which is far more exciting. It is a simple house, and not particularly hard to build, and it looks so much better than most of the other recent architecture in the area.

Here the house takes second place to the view – with such a fantastic view of the estuary, all you need is a home elevated like this, and with enough glass to bring that amazing landscape in. And the best thing about it is the simplest – the main living rooms are raised high to take advantage of the views. Cars can then park below and get some protection from the winter storms you get here.

And inside you see that the furnishings have been carefully chosen not to compete with the architecture, or the view. The view is everything.

As with any other new build, consideration must be give to environmental concerns. It is built with sustainable materials, and uses sustainable fuel – wood-pellets for heating, rain water is collected from the roof and used in the toilets and insulation is provided by waste newsprint fibre.