The house was designed by the architects Habershon & Fawckner in the Neo-Baroque style, built in rubble masonry and was completed in 1896.

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of four bays facing onto Richmond Road.

[7] The building had a major overhaul in time for the Cardiff European Council summit held on 15 and 16 June 1998.

[7] The actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and her husband, Michael Douglas, visited the mansion house, in July 2010, for the launch of the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales appeal of which she is a patron.

[10] Scenes from the BBC television series, Doctor Who, starring Ncuti Gatwa, were shot at the mansion house in October 2023.