Castell Deudraeth is an early Victorian castellated mansion built by David Williams, the first Liberal MP for Merioneth. Clough Williams-Ellis purchased the building and its grounds in 1931 in order to expand the Portmeirion estate and to give him a proper driveway from the main road. He used it as a hotel in the 1930s, then it became a prep school and at one time was made into exclusive apartments for the likes of the Oppenheimer family.
The building’s Baronial elements, borrowed from the Gothic and Tudor periods, create an impressive example of Victorian architecture at its most fantastical. Clough referred to the Castell as “the largest and most imposing single building on the Portmeirion estate”.
Despite Clough’s best intentions to integrate the Castell into the existing hotel accommodation at Portmeirion, the intervening war and subsequent building restrictions delayed this. Seventy years after he bought the place Clough’s original vision has finally been realized. Castell Deudraeth was officially opened by Bryn Terfel on 20th August 2001.
All the buildings at Portmeirion are Grade II listed and the whole estate is a designated Conservation Area. Portmeirion including Castell Deudraeth is owned by the Second Portmeirion Foundation, a registered charity, and managed by its tenant Portmeirion Limited on a leasehold basis.