They knew a thing or two about building impressive country piles back in the 18th century. Commissioned by Colonel John Bagwell MP, Marlfield House is a fantastic Palladian mansion, in which three imposing storeys sit over an extensive basement, while a pair of wings – one for stables, the other in apartments – curve out to welcome you.
Local architect William Tinsley teamed up with Richard Turner to add an absolutely gorgeous orangerie.
Turner, who is famous for the glasshouses at both Dublin’s Botanic Gardens and at Kew, let his imagination take flight, and while the orangerie at Marlfield needs a little TLC, it’s still a glorious spot. So too is the setting.
While the formal facade is pure Palladian grandeur, the rear is softer, and has three huge interconnected reception rooms. The diningroom, drawingroom and library all have French windows looking out on the river Suir. And yes, fishing rights come with the house.
Burned out
Of course Irish history hasn’t always been kind to Georgian mansions, especially those owned by MPs.
The central block of Marlfield was burned out in 1923. David Ashmore, who is handling the sale for Sotheby’s at a guide of €1,350,000, says that you can still see the scorch marks on the door to the stables, which is a fascinating piece of living history at your fingertips.
The Bagwell family rebuilt and lived on at Marlfield until the 1970s, when the present owners bought the house.
With 2,100sq m (22,600sq ft) of living space at their disposal (1,450sq m/15,607sq ft in the main house, the rest being accounted for by the apartment wing), they decided to divide and rule a little upstairs.
This means the ground floor is pretty much as it would have been in the Bagwell’s day, while upstairs the rooms have been partitioned to create separate apartments.
This has been done with stud walls, and the original features are still intact, so can either be converted back, or improved upon perhaps to create a country house hotel or chic boutique guesthouse.
There are 14 bedrooms in all, and on 31 acres, there’s an awful lot to conjure with here in Clonmel.
