The family that built it was established in South Wales in the Middle Ages by Edward, Lord of Kemeys and the manor was held by his descendants until the 18th century.

"[5] The author and illustrator Fred Hando also visited and wrote an article on the manor and folly for the South Wales Argus, subsequently published in his volume, The Pleasant Land of Gwent.

[6] Cadw’s listing record indicates that the reconstruction after the 1910 fire was carried out by T. E. Watson, a Newport colliery owner, as a memorial to John Lawrence and Horton Addams-Williams, but gives no further details regarding these individuals.

[2] The architectural historian John Newman, in his Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, notes that the medieval origins of the house can still be seen in the base of the tower.

[b][6] The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales records that the grounds of the house include walls and terraces from the Tudor period and are little altered from the time of their construction in the 16th century.