'Hollywood took over my home and made a movie there with an Oscar-nominated star'

In a few months time Maria and her family and friends will be wandering into a cinema in Carmarthenshire, settling down with popcorn, and will be waiting in excited anticipation for the movie to begin.

But this won't be a normal outing for the group because, although they will no doubt be interested in the film starring three times Oscar nominated Carey Mulligan, it is not the cast or the story they have come to see - for them, the leading role will be the sprawling Tudor mansion Maria and her family call home.

Used as a location for a substantial number of scenes, the movie crew turned up to Grade II* listed Derwydd Manor in August, 2023, stayed for five weeks and used the 'magic of the movies' to transform it into a remote house by the beach on a remote island - so far removed from its location just outside Ammanford. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here

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The Ballad of Wallis Island premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024, and Focus Features will release the Baby Cow Productions film in the United States on March 28, with a UK release from Universal Pictures due on May 9, 2025. This made-in-Wales comedy-drama has already had very positive reviews, although there has been no mention of the mansion yet, with Amber Wilkinson from Screen Daily saying: "Audiences will expect to laugh, but may be surprised to find themselves shedding a tear or two as well."

The James Griffiths-directed film was co-written and co-stars Bafta award-winners Tom Basden (Plebs, After Life, Quacks) Tim Key (See How They Run, Alan Partridge, The Double) and Carey Mulligan (Maestro, Promising Young Woman and An Education), who overall through her career has had 152 award nominations and 82 wins, and also starred in Pride & Prejudice alongside Keira Knightley and Dame Judi Dench.

It can be nerve-wracking when a whole movie 'village' turns up at your home and sets up camp, even if you have pro-actively put it forward by registering it with Wales Screen as a potential TV, movie and advert filming location, but Maria needn't have worried. She says: "They were all so lovely, couldn’t stop thanking me for having them there but I kept on thanking them - thank you for coming to my house.

"Tom and Tim were amazing, really funny with a dry sense of humour and very, very nice and down to earth people. They came and had a cup of coffee and chatted with me and shared some ice cream in the kitchen before filming started. James Griffiths, the director, was lovely, accommodating, and made me feel so at ease, and they all really appreciated me renting out the house to them but really it was me who felt very grateful for the filming."

The house, which dates back to Tudor times with foundations going back as far as the 12th century, was easily large enough to accommodate Maria hiding away and getting on with her day whilst filming was happening, and the substantial space in the sprawling mansion came in handy when Carey Mulligan turned up for filming.

Maria explains: "Carey's mother is Welsh, her parents live in the area, and her mum came down to the filming to help her with her 12-week-old baby she had with her, so mum was babysitting. We’ve got a little separate apartment within the house and they stayed in there while Carey was filming, so it felt more like a home from home for her, I wanted her to feel comfortable and relaxed."

For anyone thinking about offering their home as a potential location for filming as part of Wales' now blossoming movie and TV industry, Maria has some advice and that is just to be very relaxed. She says: "I just let them get on with everything. They asked my permission before they did anything but I was totally flexible with them; that’s the way forward if you are thinking about putting your home up as a location site - it works both ways.

"You have to remember that they are doing a major movie, investing a lot of money, they have to get it right and they only have a certain timescale to get it right, so I tried to help them as much as I could as the host."

According to Maria, the production used many of the rooms at the mansion including the kitchen, the lounge, the conservatory where Tim played the piano, and even the bath tub, as well as the empty room in the attic that was transformed into a hotel room as part of the film's story.

Maria says: "They used the kitchen, they all loved the kitchen, and when Channel 4's Come Dine with Me came to film here they fell in love with it too. The film crew painted my units a different colour green than they usually are, they went lighter for the camera and lighting in the kitchen, but obviously at the end of filming they put everything back how everything was, including painting my kitchen back to the original colour green.

"They had to do a few adjustments, took most of my furniture out and replaced with theirs. I said they could use whatever of mine they wanted in the movie, I was just grateful that they were coming here."

So you'll see Maria's kitchen table in the movie trailer but the chairs are different and so is the cooker splashback, and some rooms changed function with the lounge turned into a formal dining room but you can still see the ornate period fireplace in the background. One of the lawns within the eight acres of grounds was transformed into a tennis court and you'll even see Tom Basden in Maria's bath tub in one scene of the movie trailer.

Maria adds: "They also had to cover certain things for the filming because of copyright, such as pictures I have in the house, they had to put other pictures up there otherwise they would have to apply for rights, so they had to be very careful what they showed in the film."

Maria had to keep news about the production quiet at the time of filming with only close family allowed to know. She says: "I couldn’t tell anyone else during the filming. I think I started mentioning it to friends about a year afterwards and they thought I was joking! When the trailer came out recently, then I started sending a link to it to my friends and they were thrilled to see it."

Although it's a secret as to the exact amount, Maria says she was paid for the use of her much-loved mansion and that had contributed towards keeping this ancient country pile going, with maintenance always a priority at historic homes.

Even before the location crew turned up with lights, cameras, trailers, food vans and even security around the site and on the front gate, this unique and historic home could boast an impressive life through its centuries of existence.

As early as 1951 the mansion was recognised as a very important part of Welsh history, with Cadw awarding it at that time with a Grade II* listing, only given to about 7% of Wales' listed buildings. The listing was granted for the house being 'a substantial Tudor mansion, albeit reduced from its original ambitious scale, retaining 17th century interiors of exceptional quality and completeness, and with 19th century additions which reinterpret the architectural theme'.

According to the listing, the mansion holds an important place within Welsh and British history, saying 'it was here, in the house of the Tudor knight Sir Rhys ap Thomas, that Henry Tudor was said to have sheltered on the way to Bosworth'.

The historical 14-bedroom gem is packed with character in every space with the Cadw listing paying particular interest in the three Jacobean fireplaces as well as the staircase, moulded cornicing, exposed beams, volute-capped pilasters and ceiling panels.

Recently the family has reduced in numbers with the children now adults and moving away, so now the family feels is the right time to downsize and move-on and pass this incredible house to the next custodian and, who knows, that might include more filming at the property, appearing as one of the location stars on TV or in a movie.

Maria says: "I'm going to miss this incredible building, it's such a welcoming house that holds so many memories, and is so unique in its place in Welsh history - the next custodian of the mansion who will add their own chapter to its history is going to be so lucky to call it home." Derwydd Mansion is for sale with a guide price of £2m with Luxury Welsh Homes, call 01834 818076 to find out more.

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