Trust plans to open Ashley home

The former home of Mid Wales fashion entrepreneur Laura Ashley is set to be opened to the public.

The National Trust is reportedly in talks with the Ashley family about the future of Rhydoldog House, near Rhayader.

Many of the rooms in the house are said to be untouched since Laura Ashley's death in 1985, 30 years after she and her husband Sir Bernard Ashley – who died earlier this year – launched the clothes and home furnishings company.

The couple's eldest daughter Jane said after years of struggling to pay for the upkeep of the house, the family wanted it sold. She said she was in talks about a takeover of the 700-acre site, which is said to have inspired most of Laura Ashley's designs.

If the National Trust deal is agreed, Jane hopes the opportunity to view original Ashley designs in the setting that inspired them will attract visitors from across the globe.

Glyn Davies, Tory parliamentary candidate for Montgomeryshire and a former friend of the Ashley family, welcomed the development.

"This news uplifts my spirit and brings me pleasure," he said.