The Mount is not a country house proper in that it has not commanded an estate of a sizeable acreage in its own right. For much of the existence of a house on the site, the property, in fact, formed a part of the Brogyntyn Estate (q.v.) and was latterly the home of the late 6th Lord Harlech (1954–2016) prior to its sale in 2001. Since acquisition by the present owner, however, a new house of exceptional quality and architectural merit has been built. This ranks as one of the finest houses created in Britain within the last two decades.

The site of The Mount was commonland in the Lordship of Whittington and, following Enclosure Acts, three parcels of land were purchased in 1781 by Robert Hale of Penrhyn, Caernarfonshire for £307 7s 0d. He, in 1788, sold the land on to George Stoakes of Oswestry for £429.

Stoakes – who is thought to have been a timber merchant – saw the potential of the site’s panoramic views and built a house on the property, which was first known as Mount Pleasant. His tenure was probably that of a speculator since he sold the place, just two years later, to Mrs Mary Jones (d. 1797), widow of Matthew Jones of Cyfronydd, Montgomeryshire. Mrs Jones bequeathed the property to her younger children, Matthew, Margaret and Mary Jones.

For a time the house was let, being occupied, successively, by Miss Mary Vaughan Davies, and then by John Hunt. During this period, Matthew Jones overstretched himself financially and was eventually declared a bankrupt in 1814. Mount Pleasant passed into trust and was occupied, by circa 1817–1819, by Richard Puleston.

It thereafter passed to Thomas Jones Parry Jones (d. 1845) of Llwyn On, Denbighshire, who sold the property – which in his tenure had been occupied by Arthur Nonely Davenport – to William Ormsby Gore (1779–1860) for £2,100 in 1845. In the hands of the Brogyntyn estate, the property was usually tenanted except in 1859–70 when J.R. Ormsby Gore (1816– 1876) – the eventual 1st Lord Harlech – occupied the house before moving to Brogyntyn following his mother’s death, and also during the tenure of the 6th Lord Harlech.