When Bernard Doyle, a partner with Spain Courtney Doyle estate agents, spotted 125 acres of agricultural land for sale near Aughrim, Co Wicklow, he had the seed of an idea for a hotel/restaurant/retail development.
Less than two years later, just before Christmas, the Brooklodge Country House Hotel, restaurant and six shops opened to the public. Bernard and his two brothers - Eoin, director of a company publishing tourism magazines, and Evan, a restaurateur in Killarney, Co Kerry - spent £8 million on their development on the site of a once-thriving village called Macreddin.
Now, the brothers expect to attract visitors to their stylish restaurant and shops from places such as Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey and Killiney - which are about an hour's drive from Brooklodge - and people from everywhere to their country house hotel, which is already aiming for four-star status.
Eoin Doyle's research into local history revealed that a village called Macreddin once stood on the site, at the confluence of a river and a stream. This inspired plans for a village-style development, featuring a hotel with a restaurant, a bar with its own micro-brewery, an equestrian centre and designer shops selling own-brand produce labelled Macreddin.
The expertise of restaurateur Evan Doyle is a key ingredient in the complex. He owned and ran the Strawberry Tree restaurant in Killarney, and has relocated it to Brooklodge, using his successful formula of a menu based on organic and free-range produce.
A cobblestoned archway links the front gardens - called the village green - to the rear entrance, where there are tastefully landscaped parking facilities. Inside the hotel, large flagstones in the reception area create an old world atmosphere. The Brooklodge Hotel is a long, low house, built on three different levels, perhaps emulating coach-houses of former times, or other 19th-century lodges which were extended over time to accommodate extra guests.
Places such as Co Wicklow's Hunter's Hotel in Ashford and Rathsallagh House in Dunlavin, and the Dunraven Arms Hotel at Adare, Co Limerick, spring to mind as sources of inspiration. The Brooklodge Hotel is already included as one of the Manor House Hotels of Ireland. The attention to detail in Brooklodge is remarkable. Evan and Eoin Doyle say everything has been designed to recreate the atmosphere of a simple-yet-stylish country house hotel. "We must have spent 200 nights talking about every detail," says Eoin.
Take, for instance, the walls. They are over two-ft thick with comfortable window seats built into many of the rooms. The plasterwork has soft curves next to windows and doors, rather than the harsher, more angular style. The paint finishes are warm and subdued. Outside, the slates are the old grey ones and the guttering is cast-iron.
If it settles into the mood and ages well - with the help of some creeping and climbing plants perhaps - the Brooklodge Hotel could become one of those places where people will wonder whether it once was a country house, or whether it has been newly built.
There are 40 bedrooms in the hotel, all of which have nice walnut finish furniture, including a free-standing wardrobe, a blanket chest, free-standing mirror and large French sleigh or four-poster beds. The bathrooms are also tastefully decorated. Some have wash-stand style basins and free-standing baths. But it's the food which Evan Doyle believes is the centre-piece of the whole project.
A successful restaurateur for many years, Evan Doyle was one of the first people to base his entire menu on wild, free-range and organic produce, and his Strawberry Tree restaurant in Killarney featured in John and Sally McKenna's Bridgestone Guide. Now transferred to the Brooklodge Hotel, it is open every night from 7 p.m.
Evan's business partner, Freda Wolfe, has been involved in such projects as Eden restaurant in Dublin's Temple Bar and Nude organic food bar in Suffolk Street, Dublin.
Food is also served in the bars and traditional Sunday lunches in a separate function room, known as the White Room - all serviced from a large kitchen. There are plans in progress to plant a walled herb garden and longer term plans to use some of the remaining agricultural land to grow organic vegetables.
The hotel has several bars. William Acton's pub and the adjoining microbrewery, with large whiskey vats converted into seating, has its own separate entrance to the hotel. There is also the Game Room Bar, which has dark wood panelling and leather couches, and the Waterside Lounge, which overlooks the "village green". The idea behind the village green is drawn from the local historical references to Macreddin village. Expect plenty of outdoor seating, barbecues, wedding feasts and maybe even the occasional village fete in summer. The foundations have also been laid for a small chapel across the stream, called Ballycreen brook, which, may in the future serve as a venue for wedding services. The six retail outlets collectively called the Storerooms at Macreddin village, are currently open only at weekends. One stocks wine, cheeses and a Macreddin Village range of preserves and relishes. Another houses a smokehouse and another a bakery. The remaining three sell designer tableware and accessories.
The Doyles believe that the village atmosphere will appeal to customers. "There are lovely villages in the west of Ireland and around Cork, but no real focal point near Dublin for people to get away from it all," says Bernard Doyle. Although there are no on-site leisure facilities such as a swimming-pool or sauna, amenities in the area include horse-riding, golfing at Woodenbridge and Glenmalure, shooting, fishing and hill-walking.
The growth areas of adventure sports such as canoeing, para-gliding, rock-climbing, and fun sports such as cross-country quad biking and off road 4x4 driving, are also catered for in the area.
For a more leisurely afternoon, bicycles will be available free of charge to hotel residents.
