United States Ambassador’s Residence, Phoenix Park, Dublin

Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London. 

p. 280. “(De Blaquiere, B/PB1917) A house originally built 1776 by Sir John Blaquiere, MP (afterwards raised to 1^st Lord de Blaquiere), Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant and one of the leading figures in the political life  of Ireland during later C18; in a demesne carved out of Phoenix Park which he obtained on the strength of being the Park’s bailiff. In 1782, he was asked to surrender the house and grounds in return for some compensation, and the house became the official residence of the Chief Secretary, the principal executive of the government of Ireland under British rule. The house was enlarged and altered at various times, but has a predominantly late-Georgian character; of two storeys, with a bowed projection at either end of its principal front. Along this front is a fine enfilade of reception rooms. A large glass conservatory was added at one end 1852 by Lord Naas (afterwards 6^th Earl of Mayo and Viceroy of India), while he was Chief Secretary. Later in the century, probably 1865 during the Chief Secretaryship of Chichester Fortescue (afterwards Lord Carlingford), the two bowed projections were joined by a single-storey corridor, into which were thrown the centre rooms, making them much deeper; the main wall of the house being carried by Ionic columns. The house became afterwards the United States Legation 1927, afterwards the Embassy.” 

https://curiousireland.ie/us-ambassadors-residence/

The US Ambassador’s Residence (Deerfield) is located in Phoenix Park in Dublin City. It was built in 1776 for Sir John Blaquiere, the Chief Secretary for Ireland which was a akin to being the Prime Minister. From then on this was the residence of 69 Chief Secretaries between 1776 up until 1922 when Ireland gained its independence. After 1922 the USA was quick to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the new Irish Free State and was offered this building as a residence for it’s Ambassador. It was appropriately coincidental that this building was built in 1776, the same year that The United States declared its own Independence. This amazing property has many rooms including a ballroom and a library. The grounds include 62 acres of lawn, orchards and gardens, 3 cottages and a gate lodge. In the 1970s the building was given the name Deerfield by the wife of the then United States ambassador on account of the number of deer who roam in the open parkland around the mansion. It has been periodically suggested that the building should become the residence of the Taoiseach. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton all stayed here during their Irish visits.