Ein Cynefin: A House with Space for what Matters

There's a word in Welsh – cynefin – that doesn't translate neatly into English. It comes from farming, originally used to describe the habitual tracks that animals tread across a land. Over time, it's deepened into something more personal: a sense of place, of belonging. It is a place that shapes you and that you shape in return.

It's also the name of a house. Angharad and her sister Teleri grew up here in this Victorian manor house set in an acre of gardens in Soughton, Flintshire. Their father, an Anglesey man, settled in this corner of North Wales forty years ago, and the family has since marked Christmases, two weddings, countless birthdays and hazy summers here.

Now, the sisters are the proud caretakers. They knew this chapter of the house would mean opening up their home to guests but they wondered, rather romantically, could people feel what they feel here?

Not designed, but collected

Their first step was to restore and renovate the house to ensure the interior matched the grandeur promised by its exterior face. Their tastes run contemporary and, left to their own devices they confess, they might have made some fast-dating design missteps.

What stopped them, partly, was the house itself. When something has good bones (and Ein Cynefin has extraordinary bones) you don't mess with them. The grand hallway with wraparound gallery and glazed cupola, the suite of reception rooms with high ceilings and bay windows framing the Clwydian hills outside.

Family memories made them pause. Written across each space, forty years of living here has produced layer upon layer of meanings: a 17th-century Dutch bureau, a series of 18th century Anglesey maps, 19th-century Windsor chairs, a Maurice Burke Alpha chair rescued from their father's consulting room, their mother's tapestry-covered seats that are frankly everywhere and somehow exactly right. They were advised, repeatedly, to take the special pieces out before opening to guests; they did the opposite. A house stripped of the things that made it a home isn't going to make new memories for anyone.

The approach quickly became: don't mess with the space, don't hide the things that root it and don't rush. You acquire what you like over time and across periods, and then you work out how things sit together. Their job was not to start again but to edit and then add with a careful eye.

When they did make changes, they looked to contemporary lighting and textiles to bring a modern aesthetic (though they did have a few robust discussions about the merits of their father's taste in 80s ziggurat sconces). It's remarkable what those two things can achieve without disturbing the underlying character of a room. They worked with Amy Jones Interiors to find a colour language they were confident about, and the result is spaces that feel evolved rather than renovated.

They've continued to add slowly since they opened. A recently commissioned cyntell (a traditional Welsh agricultural basket) made by Clare Revera, a South Wales basket maker and weaver, now holds the hamper prepared for each set of guests. Their nain (grandmother) would have used one on the Anglesey farm and it makes them smile every time they see it.

The sisters focus on supporting independent Welsh companies and brands. Throughout the house you'll find textiles by Melin Tregwynt, a mill that's been on the same Pembrokeshire site for over two centuries.

 Their textiles keep guests snug through the hot water bottles placed in every room, as well as a large acoustic wall hanging in the kitchen. One of the favourite pieces is the curtains that cloak the French door out into a formal garden. Designed by textile artist Cefyn Burgess, they look plain at first glance but get closer and you'll see portraits of Welsh wildflowers woven into the fabric.

It's not just craftspeople and designers but also producers. The bathrooms have been stocked with Goodwash toiletries since the beginning. An ethical skincare company based in Barri, they base their formulations on old Welsh remedies and then smell gorgeous too.

The hamper that greets anyone who stays is full of local treats too. Harry at Cracked Coffee roasts the beans. The ingredients for Welsh cakes are always in the kitchen along with the family's Nain's recipe. There are plenty of other houses in which guests could've chosen to spend their time, but they didn't; they chose this one, so the particularities – and peculiarities, including a Victorian toilet branded 'The Deluge' – are the point.

Generosity by design

When the sisters began planning the restoration, they made a deliberate choice not to carve the space up to fit more guests. The house sleeps ten across five bedrooms, all with ensuites. The ground floor brings a formal lounge, informal lounge, dining room, snug, kitchen and hall, all with high ceilings. There is a generosity of space that the original architects gifted the house, and they knew they had to retain that.

The same logic applied to the objects. Keep the baby grand piano. Restore the French door onto the patio (the one that opens directly onto the garden, the sky, the sheep in the fields beyond) because of that moment of stepping outside with a cup of tea and feeling privacy in an extensive landscape. Each of these things offer small moments in a big house that stay with you.

Lighting plays a crucial role in making rooms feel right throughout the day and into the night and Holloways of Ludlow played a big role in helping select the right pieces. The Atomium Suspension pendant in the dining room – a Lambert & Fils piece – plays a key role in adding a contemporary crown to a formal dining room. Across the bathrooms, there's more classical lighting such as the Fritz Fryer Ledbury wall light, Scandilux ceiling lights and Art Deco Smoke wall lights, which are the perfect accompaniment to the period details.

In the garden, the Case Furniture EOS outdoor furniture from Holloways of Ludlow has the solidity to feel permanent and immovable; it belongs, rather than something that needs putting away at the first sign of an autumn breeze. But it also signals that this house is for modern, communal living.

There's no denying that Ein Cynefin can look grandiose from the outside, but the sisters' challenge was to ensure that, while the first impression might be grand, you step across the threshold and immediately breathe. You're at home; it's not matchy-matchy, it's not trend-led, it's just right. It has a history, and their job is to be the next caretakers for as long as it will have them. They add their layer sensitively and hand it on.

Like you're at home – just with a little bit more of it.

Ein Cynefin sleeps up to ten guests across five bedrooms with five ensuites, in Soughton, Flintshire, North Wales. Find out more and check availability at eincynefin.co.uk.

Written by Adam

Adam is the Head of E-Commerce, which means in work he is often a very busy man. His current mission outside of work is to wrestle his garden away from 3 rabbits, a dog and 2 children and turn it into a relaxing retreat. He has never knowingly turned down a cup of tea.