A reminder – “Segreto Vignettes” – Leslie’s brand new book is available for preorder. HERE
Part One: When you finish reading this story – read Part Two by clicking on the “Older Posts” button at the end of the page.
Last week, celebrity designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard took time off from decorating all the Kardashians mac mansions to attend a wedding in Bath. England. He then jetted over to Ireland for a stay at the most luxurious hotel – the Ballyfin Demesne. Lucky fellow. I mean, decorating for all those Kardashians!!!!
Seriously, imagine how much fun a decorator can have when Khloe and Kourtney and Kendall and Kylie are all klients? I konfess, I’m a fan.
But, I digress. I’m not stalking Martyn’s vacation plans this summer. Of course not! He posted all the pictures of his days off on his very public Instagram and when he publicizes photos of his hotel suite at the Ballyfin – you can’t help but sit up and take notice. It’s a gorgeous room.
I’ve been lusting over the Ballyfin since it opened in 2011 and I’ll probably never get to check it off my bucket list, so, inspired by Martyn Lawrence Bullard, I thought we’d all tour the Irish hotel together! It’s been called the most gorgeous, the most luxurious, the most incredible, the most cozy place to stay in all of Ireland and I think you will agree.
The Ballyfin Demesne, once a country house, is now a hotel with just 20 rooms. During your stay there, all you have to worry about are the guests in the other 19 rooms who might disturb your fantasies that you are actually the lady of the house ala Downton Abbey.
The Ballyfin Demesne strives hard to make its guests feel at home, as opposed to feeling like they are staying at a hotel. They have been very successful in this approach that permeates every aspect of their management style. It’s hard to leave the Ballyfin and return to reality. Many who come are either repeat visitors, or they want to be. This much respected hotel has a very well-deserved good reputation.
And, speaking of the Kardashians, Kanye and Kim are rumored to have spent part of their honeymoon at Ballyfin. The list of stars who have been guests is of course not publicized. The hotel expected that most visitors would be from the stars from the states, but to the surprise of the owners, Americans are not the only guests, the Irish are also filling up the rooms.
Once I started researching this hotel – I realized that the story is not only about what it is today – but what this building once was – which is a family house. A big, beautiful family house, to be sure, but still – a family house that became a boarding school and then slowly deteriorated over the years.The story of this house, its incredible 8 year restoration and how it was saved to become a 5 star hotel is what makes it all the more interesting.
Ballyfin DemasneThe lands of the estate were once known simply as Bally-fin which mean “town of Fionn” - named after one of its earliest known inhabitant, Fionn Mac Cumhaill the leader of the Fianna (don’t ask me!)
Demesne means “land attached to a manor.” In Ireland, usually an estate, or a demesne (pronounced da-maine,) will have some sort of fence that marks its boundaries. At Ballyfin, its ancient stone walls still surround parts of the estate.
The 614 acre Ballyfin Demesne located in County Laois,was owned by a succession of families, including the Poles. Above is William Pole, who with his wife Sarah, created the lake and the much heralded natural landscape both still so important to the beauty of Ballyfin today. William and Sarah also extended the house that they had inherited from his uncle, another William. That house had been built in 1720, replacing an old Tudor castle previously there.
Above, in 1794, the house the Poles built at Ballyfin, is seen from across the lake. This house was torn down to make room for the present mansion.
This map from early 1800s shows the original Pole mansion in pink, with the stables and farm buildings behind it. Read about the map HERE.
Later, it was another Pole, William Wellesley-Pole, who sold the Ballyfin estate to the Coote family. It was Sir Charles Coote who demolished the Pole’s house and built the grand house that is still standing today. The site of this new house was moved 200 ft to the west of the Pole’s house, away from the stable blocks.
Sir Charles Henry Coote, the first Coote to live on Ballyfin and the one who built the house that still stands today. He paid for the lavish house with part of his inheritance including the profits from the sale of a town that he owned. Sir Charles was considered one of the richest men in Ireland, along with being one of its largest landowner.
These are the plans for the current house at Ballyfin. The Regency house was designed by father and son Irish architects Sir Richard and William Morrison, who in 1820 were hired by Sir Charles Coote. The house the Morrisons designed is considered one the most important examples of 19th century neo-classical architecture in Ireland. It has a 13 bay facade which is broken by a portico with giant Ionic columns.
The side elevation – shows the Library - which runs the entire width of the house from front to back. The bay window is the central part of the Library, which is divided into three bays.
The house is quite large, it originally measured 35,000 sq. feet. It has two stories, with a basement and a mezzanine level.
The Coote Family owned the Ballyfin estate for 100 years, where they lived in genteel luxury, as evidenced by the numerous photos of the family at play.
At the front entrance of Ballyfin in the late 1800s. The nannies with their charges as the mothers look on.
With the coming of Ireland’s Independence, money became an issue for the large landowners, and the Cootes were no exception.
They sold their house to the Patrician Brothers in 1920 for just 10,000 pounds. The Brothers then turned the estate into a popular, but austere boarding school for nearby boys. In 1928, the Brothers added a dormitory onto the back of the house, where the students lived.
The estate proved too expensive for the Patrician Brothers to keep it in good condition and it gradually fell into great disrepair. Meanwhile, a couple from Chicago – Fred Krehbiel, a billionaire, and his Irish wife Kay who hails from County Kerry - wanted to find a grand house in Ireland and turn it into a small hotel. They partnered with Landscape Designer and historian Jim Reynolds, who approached the Brothers with a proposal to buy the estate. The Brothers agreed, and the sale was brokered – with the provision that the school would stay open until the final class graduated.
The restoration was a huge endeavor and very expensive, there are estimates that it cost over $60 million. It looks it too – when you see all the chandeliers and fine art and antiques inside! The owners don’t expect to ever get their investment back. It’s a labor of love to them.
The story of Fred and his wife Kay and how the Chicago couple came to own this Irish estate is very interesting. Krehbiel, in his 70s, is considered a Renaissance man, intensely interested in the fine arts, antiques, silver, porcelains – and more, especially when the finery is Irish. His fascination with large houses began as a young man when he visited a classmate’s relatives during graduate school in England. The house he stayed in had 60 rooms, but the family only lived in five, typical of the cash strapped aristocracy.
Krehbiel recalls that visit: “It was an immense pile, like Ballyfin, and I had seen pictures and movies and all, but I hadn’t really experienced it. They were not living so grandly. They were trying to hold it together, but it was fascinating to see.”
Having been bit by the old mansion bug, Krehbiel spent his life harboring a dream of turning an old house into a boutique hotel. Ballyfin Demasne fit the bill. Now that they are hoteliers, the Krehbiels spend a week each month in Ireland while the rest of the time they are at home in Chicago. Most interesting is that they don’t live at Ballyfin – their own house in Ireland is actually 2 1/2 hours away!! I would love to see THAT house!
BEFORE: This shows the estate after it became a boarding school. There is the original house and the taller dormitory that the Brothers built behind the house for the students. Later, during the restoration – the top floor of the dormitory was taken off so that the house and the dorm were the same height as opposed to having the dorm looming over the house as it once did.
BEFORE: The view from the opposite side. The large double quadrangle farm buildings behind the dorm were turned into schoolrooms for the boys.
TODAY: Here you can see that the mansion and the dorm are now the same height. Originally there were 15 hotel rooms, all but one, located in the mansion. Last year, five more rooms were added – in the old dormitory. Also in the old dorm is the indoor swimming pool and the ballroom.
DURING: In order to renovate the mansion and estate, a major restoration was undertaken, which lasted over eight years - longer than it took to build the original house. First, the roof needed to be completely fixed in order to stop the leaks which had already caused much damage and dry rot to the house. A temporary roof was built over the original roof while it was repaired.
Another early issue was the stone facade which was crumbling. Between repairing the roof and the facade – these jobs alone took over two years.
BEFORE: The conservatory, which was built for the Coots family in 1855 by Richard Turner, was also in total disrepair. It had to be dismantled piece by piece and sent to England to be repaired. The Conservatory was part of the original plan by Architects Morrison, but for some reason, it was put on hold and not built until years later.
During: The Patrician Brothers took great pride in Ballyfin and tried very hard to keep the estate in good condition – but with their meager bank account, it was an impossible task. In the end it was a blessing that the Cootes sold the house to the Brothers. They kept it as it was and made very little changes to the house itself – which was a godsend to new owners.
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