Drybridge House eventually passed to Richard Crompton Roberts, who was killed in action during the retreat from Dunkirk in 1940, and then to his sister Mary. After she married John Callender, she sold the house in 1947 to Monmouthshire County Council, with the caveat that it be used for the benefit of local people. It was then used as a welfare home for the elderly, and an extension was built in 1951. However, the home was closed suddenly in 1989, and - apart from a few months as a temporary police station - was left empty and deteriorating, despite its designation in 1991 as a Grade II* listed building and local protests against its abandonment. In 1998 the Bridges charity, based at the time in another building in Monmouth, won an agreement to develop Drybridge House as a community centre, and major fundraising began. With further grants, and the assistance of Cadw and the Heritage Lottery Fund, work took place on the refurbishment and restoration of the building, much of it involving volunteers from the local community. All the rooms were eventually opened for public use by the end of 2003.