House of the Week: Georgian grandeur you would expect from the 17th Earl of Ormond
Richview House in Kilkenny has all the Georgian grandeur you would expect from a property which was built as the residence of the 17th Earl of Ormond.
Its elegant rooms have high ceilings and elegant with an abundance of original features, including a relief portrait of the earl and one of his children on the drawing room ceiling.
Believed to date from the late 18th century, the house was later owned by a branch of President Douglas Hyde’s family.
Looked after, lived in, and extended by a variety of owners over the decades, its grandeur had been somewhat diminished by the time an Irish/UK couple bought it.
They took it on as a project and, with the assistant of a conservation architect and some heritage grant aid from Kilkenny County Council, have spent three years working on it.
Previous owners had renovated and modernised in the 1970s and 1980s, but it needed a lot of work.
“The heating was meagre — there was just one radiator upstairs,” reveals the owner, explaining that some previous renovators had used cement render, which was unsuitable, and made other changes that needed to be reversed.
Parts of the walls and the plasterwork needed attention as did original timber sash windows. Because this is a listed building, much of the work required specialist craftsmen skilled in conservation.
While this was a priority, the 4,300 sq ft property also had to be adapted for 21st-century living and needed modern bathroom and kitchen facilities.
The first year was about repairing sections of walls with traditional “hot lime” mortar, the second was when the new bathrooms and kitchen and the heating system went in, while the restoration work on the windows happened this year. Along the way, carpets were pulled up, original floors exposed, walls painted, and antique-style radiators fitted.
Starting with the areas that needed attention most, the owners repaired the dining room wall and put back in a window which had been replaced by a door — using a timber sash window which is actually a concealed doorway. Elegant with high ceilings and shuttered windows, the room has regained its grandeur.
The large formal drawing room still has a multitude of intact original features and didn’t require much work, but the kitchen needed major attention.
"We took out what was there and opened up alcoves that had been boarded up — finding newspapers dating from 1909,” says the owner. It’s since been fitted with white units made by the Victorian Kitchen Company.
The owners added blue island and larder units, put in an Aga, and finished off the room with an elaborate Candelabra-style chandelier.
The connected breakfast room, which was added in the 1990s and has an atrium style skylight, has been redecorated with floral wallpaper.
The study, with a high ceiling, cornicing, and original bookshelves, has been painted blue and has a stove in its marble fireplace.
On a mezzanine level the owners put in a laundry room, a bathroom with a free-standing bath, as well as an office and shower room.
The basement has now been used for a self-contained guest space which has a living room, a bedroom, and en-suite bathroom.
The first floor has three bedrooms, including an exceptionally large master bedroom which had been turned into two rooms but has now restored to its original size. It has acquired a large en-suite/dressing room which used to be a fourth bedroom.
Approached by a sweeping driveway, the house has two acres of grounds, mostly lawned with a selection of stone outbuildings. On the advice of a conservation architect, the area in front has been cleared “to open up the vista”.
While a vast amount of restoration and renovation has been carried out, some redecoration has been left for new owners.
“All the heavy lifting has been done — we have put back as much as we could, but given it a modern twist,” says the owner, adding that the reason they’re selling up now is that eir reason for selling it now, is that they have come across another similar restoration project they are keen to undertake.
Guiding Richview at €780,000, DNG Ella Dunphy auctioneers say this is a magnificent property and that its location on the Castlecomer Road is in one of Kilkenny’s most desirable residential addresses.
Anticipating international as well as Irish interest, auctioneer Ciaran Dunphy says a restored Georgian property in this location is a rare find.VERDICT: A grand and spacious home.
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