In the 1920s the architect Clough Williams-Ellis became captivated by the Mediterranean fishing village of Portofino, which he discovered while touring Italy. He returned home determined to recreate his dream village in Britain, and the result is Portmeirion.

It was pure chance that decreed that Williams-Ellis should choose Portmeirion. For years he had searched in vain for a suitable site, and by 1925 he had almost given up when he was asked to find a buyer for a derelict piece of land in a sandy estuary between Porthmadog and Harlech. As soon as he saw it he knew that his search was over, and set about hacking down the jungle of tangled thickets. Out of this wilderness grew the king of follies, an extravaganza of Italianate buildings rubbing shoulders with architectural oddments acquired from all over Britain. Yet it was a folly with a purpose; in the architect's own words, 'a lighthearted "live" exhibition of architecture, decor and landscaping'.

In Battery Square a tall campanile contrasts oddly with shuttered, box-windowed and weather-boarded buildings below. The Gloriette, looking like a ducal palace, is a mere façade built of rescued oddments, and the 17th-century Town Hall was rebuilt stone by stone after being saved from demolition elsewhere. Among the other rescued buildings and adornments are a colonnade from Bristol, a brewery clock and a once-abandoned ballroom. 

Distinguished visitors from all over the world have gazed with awe and wonderment at Williams-Ellis's creation, from royalty such as King Zog of Albania to writers such as Bernard Shaw and John Steinbeck. The playwright Noel Coward stayed there to write Blithe Spirit. The hotel where so many celebrities stayed in the 1930s was converted from a 19th-century house that stood on the site when Williams-Ellis acquired it. The main building was badly damaged by fire in 1981 but is being restored. It stands by the water's edge close to a sandy beach, backed by gardens of subtropical plants and trees which make a perfect setting for this extraordinary 'Mediterranean' village below the rugged heights of Snowdonia.

Portmeirion - Welcome

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