Unique home pairing neo-classical temple design with B3 BER overlooks Russborough House and Blessington Lakes

Irish Independent

a day ago

Asking price: €1.3m
Agent: Jordan [phone]
The opportunity to spend almost a decade restoring Dublin's legendary Casino at Marino was a dream come true for the late British-born conservation architect, activist and lifelong Georgian aficionado John Redmill.
This prize commission would also lead Redmill (who passed away in October) to his dream clients and yet another chance of a lifetime for a Georgian nut: to design and build a home in the style of a classical temple of the Greek/Roman era in a field in Kildare. And in doing so, bring to life a plan originally conceived and mothballed more than two hundred years previous.
The son of a British military aviation engineer, Redmill would become an important architectural conservation activist in Ireland through his work with the Irish Georgian Society, in a time when colonial-era architecture was being destroyed.
When Redmill landed, the country was led by Charles J Haughey who, despite living like an aristocrat himself in a Georgian country pile, presided over the demolition of 40pc of Georgian Dublin by his builder cronies.
As everyone else was leaving The Sod in the grim, recession damp 1980s, cometh the doughty Redmill who alighted to take up residence in a run-down period pile of note in Phibsborough.
He came to Ireland for two reasons: the first was his partner, fellow conservation architect Desmond Hickey, whom the Hampshire-born Redmill met at the practice at which they had both worked in the UK.
Hickey had become homesick. 'I asked John to come back to Ireland with me, but he was reluctant to do so without not only a job prospect but a decent one at that,' says Hickey, Redmill's civil partner until his passing last October.
Reason two ticked that box, with Redmill landing a plum role at O'Neill Flanagan Partners on Merrion Square. It saw him almost immediately taking the keys to one of Ireland's great marvels of the Georgian era.
ADVERTISEMENT
Built as an extravagant garden folly by the conceited and immensely rich James Caulfield, Earl of Charlemont, the 50 ft x 50 ft Casino is widely regarded as one of the most important neo-classical buildings in Ireland.
Famed as an optical illusion with the external appearance of a single-roomed structure, with a large panelled door on the north elevation and a single large window on each of the other elevations; it in fact contains 16 rooms over three floors.
After it sat crumbling and empty for decades, the State had finally decided to restore the landmark – and to do it right. Officials at the OPW hired O'Neill Flanagan, which immediately put Redmill on it. This was one of the State's first big restorations, and it would take most of a decade.
'The Casino helped to make John's reputation here as a capable conservationist and it of course led to other work,' says Hickey. 'Socially through the Georgian Society we met many enthusiasts, including the couple who would commission Mount Temple.
'The Russborough estate had originally intended building a temple-type garden folly. The drawings had been done up but they never went ahead with them. Eventually, the owners of the land decided that they wanted John to design a home for them in that style.'
Redmill – who would go on to work on other important restorations such as that of the GPO, and the Italian ambassador's residence (for which he was awarded a knighthood by the state of Italy) – began the gargantuan task of working out how to make a 1750s plan for a temple folly into a home in a Kildare field in 1980s Ireland.
'I think he was rather clever about it,' says Hickey. 'He knew what to do. The tapered pillars of the portico were cast in concrete, for example, but they still very much look the part.'
Mount Temple is today on the market for €1.3m – its first time ever for sale. It comes with a 21.5-acre site overlooking Russborough House, the Blessington Lakes and the Wicklow Mountains; and fulfils the wish that Lord Milltown made in 1750 that a temple should be built on this hill as a rather grand garden ornament.
The house – which carries a B3 energy rating – spans 3,400 sq ft, and has inspirations inevitably taken from the William Chambers-orchestrated Casino and Russborough itself.
The central block is two storeys high, with 11-foot ceilings in keeping with the correct proportions for a Doric temple. The entrance hall contains an oval ring of eight free-standing Doric columns and is decorated in Roman style.
Off it is a drawing room, and a traditional-style kitchen and living room. On the other side there is a study/library and a bedroom. The plaster cornices and columns were all specifically designed for the house, with bespoke joinery to include panelled doors.
The first floor over the main reception rooms is accessed via a Chinese Chippendale staircase based on the one at Marino Casino. There are two bedrooms on this floor with deliberately low sills for the views. There is a separate bathroom, which is also connected to the main bedroom.
Added more recently were a utility, shower/WC and pantry on one side and a guest wing on the other, comprising a kitchenette, bathroom, bedroom and living area, all of which can be accessed from the main house. An Italianate garden features outside.
Thanks to John Redmill, his dream clients, Lord Milltown, William Chambers and the Romans; if you happen to have the price of two bog-standard south Dublin semis, you can come here and live like Jupiter and Juno.
Mount Temple has an asking price of €1.3m with Jordan Auctioneers.