Our story
Capel Iago
means James's Chapel.
There's thought to have been a monastery here over a thousand years ago. When it fell, the vestry of St Peter's Church in nearby Llanybydder was built from its stone, and what was left went into Capel Iago farmhouse. A yew tree still stands beside the house. Another, further into the land, was recently dated by an expert at roughly twelve hundred years old.
The Stephens family have farmed and worked this land since 1979. When sheep farming gave way in the late eighties, the late John Stephens opened a small sawmill here, working reclaimed oak beams and hardwood flooring. It closed in 2010, when John lost his fight with cancer, but the timber he left behind never ran out.
Tim and Rhiannon still build from it today: rustic tables, shelves, coat hooks, log cabins and the handcrafted, bespoke shepherd huts Rustic Huts is known for. Every hut is made by hand in West Wales, using old, reclaimed or locally grown timber and traditional craftsmanship. It’s a tradition that continues today, creating unique shepherd huts in Wales for customers across the UK and Europe.
