Talygarn was a 1200 acre estate near Pontyclun and the home, from 1865 onwards, of the Clark family. George Thomas Clark spared no expense in rebuilding, decorating and furnishing the house, with decoration on the ground floor by the Italian master craftsman Biraghi.
By 1922 the Clark family had elected to sell the house and the estate, which were acquired by the South Wales Miners’ Welfare Fund for £20,000. Talygarn opened as a convalescent home for miners on 13 October 1923.