Quite modest proportions have ensured Ireland's only intact Gandon villa has always been more than just a showpiece, writes EDEL MORGAN
ABBEVILLE IN Kinsealy in Dublin 17, the former home of CJ Haughey, is often referred to as a Gandon-designed mansion, but its near-neighbour, Emsworth, has even more claim to this title.
While Gandon remodelled Abbeville and designed its impressive ballroom, Emsworth, built around 1794, is all Gandon (apart from the later addition of a study).
By the time he was commissioned to design Emsworth, for a businessman called Mr Woodmason, Gandon was in his 50s and is believed to have lived at Abbeville for a while. The other link to Abbeville – quite literally – is a tunnel that is the subject of urban legend. According to the story, solicitor Noel Smyth, who was representing Ben Dunne in the Moriarty Tribunal, used the tunnel when he wanted to meet Charles Haughey about the Dunnes’ payments and didn’t want to be seen going in the front gate of Abbeville. While the owner of Emsworth, tax consultant Noel Corcoran, says the story isn’t true and a previous owner blocked the tunnel off, he believes the tunnel does end at Abbeville. The access point is a trap door in Emsworth’s entrance hall (pictured right) that initially leads down to the cellar, but it would be up to a future owner to unblock it and conduct their own explorations.
Emsworth is the only Gandon villa that has survived intact in this country, according to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage .
Despite its rare status and the fact that it’s a protected structure, Emsworth has always been more of a home than a showpiece, mainly because Gandon kept the proportions relatively modest. The late architectural historian Maurice Craig is believed to have remarked that Emsworth has “grandeur without ostentation” – although it’s not exactly small at 4,330sq ft.
Noel Corcoran and his family have lived there for 19 years but it’s now on the market through O’Farrell Cleere for €4.5 million. It also comes with 17 acres, a coach-house which is used as offices, a swimming pool, tennis court and various outhouses. A further 64 acres is currently leased to Teagasc for a nominal rent but its freehold is included in the sale.
As you approach the house from either side of the tree-lined, circular avenue, the dazzling white symmetrical facade set against the lush greenery of the gardens is an impressive sight.
The entrance hall is double height with blue Wedgewood wallpaper, chosen by the owners because the design was originally printed in the 1790s, and a very fine curved banister on the staircase. Under the staircase is the aforementioned trap door to the Abbeville tunnel.
The main reception rooms include a library which has a bookcase with a secret door to the drawingroom. Both it and the diningroom have 12-foot ceilings and views of the formal lawn at the rear of the house. The magnificent floor-to-ceiling sash windows in these rooms are so big they can also be used as exits to the garden. The diningroom has a servant’s hatch now blocked off and a servant’s entrance with baize on one side which protected the door from getting scorched by hot food
The drawing room is dual aspect with a beautifully ornate original marble fireplace. The kitchen is a decent size with an Aga and dark wooden fitted units, although a new owner might want to update these.Off the kitchen on one side is a utility room in what was once a servant’s bedroom, and a shower and bootroom. Off the other side is a small TV room/den.
Upstairs there are five bedrooms including the blue and white main bedroom which has steps down to an enormous bathroom/changing room with a jacuzzi, and a toilet tucked behind a wooden enclosure. The bedrooms are mostly well proportioned with nice views of the gardens but the wardrobes are fairly dated, as are most of the bathrooms, although restrictions apply when making changes to a protected structure.
In the 1920s, a previous owner hired a landscape architect to redesign the main gardens in a formal but simple way. The rest of the grounds are largely grass and woodland with several large lawned areas near the house, one of which has a tennis court. The swimming pool near the coach house hasn’t been used much by the current owners.
The coach house is a useful addition to the estate and although it’s currently divided into five offices, it could easily be converted to living quarters if the partitions were removed. It’s a lovely old stone-walled building with an arched doorway where carriages were once kept. It has an old stone fireplace and upstairs there’s a kitchen and living area and two bedrooms.
Other outbuildings include stables now used for storage and as utility rooms, a three-car garage, and sheds for garden tools and wood.
