The Hafod estate, also known as Hafod Uchtryd (Welsh for 'Uchtryd summer mansion'), is a wooded and landscaped estate in the Ystwyth valley in Ceredigion, Wales. Near Devil's Bridge, Cwmystwyth and Pont-rhyd-y-groes, it is off the B4574 road. Hafod estate land was within the boundaries of the Cistercian Abbey Strata Florida (Welsh: Caron-Uwch-Clawdd). Originally a hunting lodge for Welsh Chieftains, it became home to the landed gentry and the nobility. In the late eighteenth century, a celebrated landscape was created under the ownership of Thomas Johnes.

The estate is in the parish of Llanfihangel y Creuddyn near Llanddewi-Brefi. Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn was a chapel-of-ease in the parish. It was rebuilt for Thomas Johnes by James Wyatt in 1801. The estate shares a border along the Ystwyth with that of the Trawsgoed estate.

After the dissolution of the monasteries by king Henry VIII (1536–1540) during the English Reformation the abbey's holdings were divided and awarded to new tenants. Some of the Strata Florida lands were granted to the Herbert family, who came to Ceredigion during the reign of Elizabeth I. Sir Richard Herbert of Pengelly and Cwmystwyth was High Sheriff of Cardigan from 22 November 1542.

A rent roll dated 1540 for the granges of Mevenith, Cwmystwyth and Hafodwen (‘newe leases’) reveals that W[illia]m Herbert and Morgan Herbert were tenants of several properties formerly belonging to the Abbey of Strata Florida, including significantly: Havodychdryd Doleygors Pantycrave Bwlch Gwalter parcell of Ty Loge [...] 4 parte of Pwll Piran parte of Pregnant(sic) Prignant Isaf and Blaenmerin and Alltgron. Havodychdryd or Hafod Uchtryd is the name of the house and demesne and the other properties.

The estate became famous in the late 18th century when its owner, Thomas Johnes (1748–1816), developed it as a showpiece of the Picturesque idea of landscape; the estate and the Gothic house were the subject of many descriptions and images produced by contemporary visitors. The history of the estate is the subject of several books, most notably Peacocks in Paradise by Elisabeth Inglis-Jones, and the Hafod Landscape by Jennifer Macve.

A new mansion at Hafod was built in 1785 by Johnes, after the demolition of the Herbert structure, from the designs of Thomas Baldwin of Bath in the Gothic style. The library was a spacious, octagonal building within the mansion. Johnes collected many rare and noble books on natural history and manuscripts in Welsh, French and Latin, which also included many by Edward Lhuyd and many manuscripts and printed editions of the French chronicles of the later Middle Ages. The library collection of the Marquis de Pesaro was purchased and housed at the estate. A sculpture by Thomas Banks, representing Thetis dipping Achilles in the river Styx stood in the library; The sculpture was commissioned by his cousin-wife Jane Johnes; the head of Achilles is that of their baby daughter, Mariamne Johnes (who lived 1784–1811). This work is currently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Adjoining the library was the conservatory 160 feet (49 m) in length that was filled with a wide variety of rare plants.

Near the entrance from this room into the dining-room hung a painting by Peter Paul Rubens of Decius Mus receiving the Benediction of the Pontifex Maximus. Over the mantel-piece hung a painting of The prophet Elijah fed by the ravens, originally housed at the abbey of Talley, Carmarthenhire, and was, on the dissolution of that establishment, given by the superior to an ancestor of Johnes. Among numerous pictures on display within the mansion were, a portrait of Mr Johnes of Llanvair, by Sir Godfrey Kneller; of Robert Liston, by Wickstead; of Richard Gorges, of Eye, Herefordshire; and of Viganoni; a copy of Guido's Cupid Sleeping, landscapes by Both and Berghem, a painting of the ruined Alchymist by Salvator Rosa. In the drawing-room were, Hogarth's celebrated picture of Southwark Fair, a Descent from the Cross by Van Dyck, an Ecce Homo by Moralez, two landscapes by Claude, a Procession of the Doge of Venice by Canaletti; an Assumption by Bernardo Lonino, pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, which was originally an altar-piece at Lugano; a Holy Family by Rubens, a portrait of Lord Chancellor Thurlow by Gardener, and some beautiful miniatures by Mariamne Johnes. The hall was constructed of Mona marble embellished with a Grecian statue of Dionysus; in addition, six paintings of subjects from Froissart, in imitation of basso relievo, by Stothard.

On 13 March 1807, a fire broke out that completely destroyed the mansion including the contents of the library. Johnes was in London attending Parliament when he heard the news and that his wife and daughter had escaped. The family moved to a rented house in Castle Hill near Aberystwyth. Baldwin of Bath was again hired as architect. On 1 September of the same year, on Johnes's birthday, construction to rebuild the mansion began. Contractors had agreed to pay a heavy financial penalty if the mansion house was not roofed-in by Christmas. Expectant upon moving in Johnes set about replacing the contents of the home. Many of the furnishings were purchased from the Palladian mansion known as Fonthill Splendens, owned by William Thomas Beckford. Interior French glass doors and a number of chimney mantle pieces were purchased, one of which had been sculpted by Banks that featured two couples: Pan and Iris, Penelope and Odysseus. These items were stored at Hafod until the mansion was complete. During construction the family left Castle Hill making tours of London and Scotland, each year returning to find the house unfinished. Construction delays continued until Johnes remained in Wales and made weekly visits, personally overseeing the progress. Altogether the project took three years to complete.