Geograph - photograph every grid square

Maenan Hall is a Grade I-listed hall. Source: Cadw Source ID: 3163
The original timber frame design of the house included six bays which had a central entrance and wooden ionic portico which dated to the late 15th century. Link Originally it was the seat of the Kyffin family. Over time many alterations were made.
However in late 1945 Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway brought Maenan Hall and started repairs to the building which had not been maintained for several decades. He brought the estate for his wife, Christabel, as a dower house. He died in 1953. Expansive restoration took place around 1955 which was carried out by S. Colwyn-Ffoulkes, an architect from Colwyn Bay. Indeed extensive work was carried out in restoring the Folly in 1959. A small conservatory, designed by Clough Williams-Ellis, was built in 1963 at the house's north corner. A second conservatory at the building's south west section was constructed in 1990.
There is however a link between Maenan Hall and Bodnant Hall and particularly the gardens and vegetation by virtue of the ownerships. Maenan Hall is set on the slopes of the Conwy Valley, and these beautiful gardens are set amongst mature hardwoods, similar to those at Bodnant. There are sweeping lawns, ornamental ponds as well as a tranquil woodland dell which features magnolias, rhododendrons, camellias, pieris, cherries and hydrangeas, among others.
Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway, married Christabel Mary Melville Macnaughton in 1910 and they had five children, three daughters and two sons. It was he who gave Bodnant Garden to the National Trust in 1948. Their first son Charles, who was born in 1903, became the 3rd Baron on his father’s death in 1953 and remained in Bodnant Hall until his death in 2003. A second son, the Hon. Christopher Melville McLaren, who was born in 1934, married Jane (Janey) Elizabeth Barrie in 1973 and they had two children Robert born 1975 and Lara born 1978.
The Hon. Christopher Melville McLaren inherited Maenan Hall on the death of the Dowager, Christabel Aberconway in 1974.
He together with his wife, Janey, developed and ran the garden opening it on occasions to the general public as is still the case (April 2026), as a part of the National Gardens scheme. Christopher however died on 11 July 2024.
The Hall like that at Bodnant is not open to the public.

Created: Fri, 1 May 2026, Updated: Sun, 3 May 2026