Woodstown, Co Waterford
Mark Bence-Jones. 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. 287. “(Carew, B/PB; Rabbon/IFR; Cholmeley-Harrison/IFR) An elegant recently villa overlooking Waterford Harbour; attributed to George and Richard Pin; built 1823 onto an earlier house by Robert Carew, afterwards 1st Lord Carew, as a present for his wife. Of two storeys and square in plan, with a graceful iron veranda ruinning all around the ground floor; each front being of three bays, with Wyatt windows. Eaved roof. 1st Lady Carew, who lived here during her widowhood, died 1901 at the age of 103, having, as a girl, attended the Duchess of Richmond’s celebrated ball before Waterloo. In 1905, Woodstown was sold to E.A.W. Barron. The Barrons sold it 1944 and in 1945 it was bought by Mr C.D. Cholmsley-Harrison, who let it during the summer to 1967 to Jacqueline Kennedy, and who sold it 1971, having acquired Emo Court, Co Laois.
Woodstown House, WOODSTOWN LOWER, County Waterford
Detached three-bay two-storey house, built 1823, possibly over basement and possibly incorporating fabric of earlier house, c.1725, on site with three-bay two-storey side elevations, and seven-bay two-storey service return wing to north-west on a U-shaped plan (comprising two-bay two-storey return to north-west with three-bay two-storey perpendicular wing to north-east, and two-bay two-storey perpendicular range to south-east) having seven-bay single-storey lean-to corridor bay to along courtyard (south-east) elevations. Renovated, c.1900, with six-bay single-storey lean-to veranda added along front (south-east) and side (south-west) elevations. Renovated, c.2000, with single-bay single-storey advanced glazed porch added to centre ground floor. Hipped slate roof on an E-shaped plan (pitched and hipped slate roofs to service return wing; lean-to to corridor range) with clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks, and cast-iron rainwater goods on overhanging rendered eaves. Swept lean-to corrugated-iron roof to veranda with iron ridge tiles, and cast-iron rainwater goods. Painted rendered walls to main block with profiled plinth, vermiculated rendered quoins to corners, moulded stringcourse to first floor, and dentilatedmoulded cornice to first floor. Painted rendered walls to courtyard (south-east) elevations of service return wing with unpainted fine roughcast walls to remainder. Square-headed window openings to main block (in tripartite arrangement to front (south-east) elevation and to central bay side (south-west) elevation) with rendered sills, profiled rendered surrounds having friezes over, and fluted engaged colonette mullions to tripartite openings. 8/8 and 12/8 timber sash windows with 2/2 and 3/2 sidelights to tripartite openings. Square-headed openings to porch with glazed timber double doors, sidelights, and overlights. Segmental-headed door opening to house with glazed timber double doors, sidelights, and decorative fanlight. Square-headed openings to veranda with decorative open work iron intermediary piers, and decorative open work iron aprons to openings. Square-headed window openings to service return wing (some in bipartite arrangement) with rendered sills. 2/4 and 6/6 timber sash windows with some timber casement windows. Interior with entrance hall having decorative timber surrounds to door openings with timber panelled doors, decorative cornice to plasterwork ceiling, elliptical arch to stair hall on clustered colonettes having decorative archivolt with keystone, and cantilevered timber staircase with panelled underside, wrought iron balustrade, and carved timber handrail. Set back from road in own grounds with tarmacadam forecourt, sections of hoop iron railings to service courtyard on random rubble stone plinth, and landscaped grounds to site.
Appraisal
An elegantly-composed Regency-style substantial house, built by Robert Shapland Carew (later 1st Lord Carew) (d. 1829) to designs attributable to George Richard Pain (1793 – 1838). Very well maintained, the house presents an early aspect with important salient features and materials intact, both to the exterior and to the interior. Features, such as the tripartite openings and the fine rendered detailing throughout, augment the architectural quality of the composition, while the exterior is enhanced by the addition of an attractive iron veranda of artistic design merit. Carved timber joinery and decorative plasterwork to the interior attest to high quality craftsmanship. Set in mature landscaped grounds, the house forms a landmark site in the locality, andrepresents an important element of the architectural heritage of the county.
Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge with half-dormer attic, c.1875, retaining original aspect with single-bay single-storey side elevations having single-bay single-storey canted bay window to north-east. Pitched slate roof (gabled to half-dormer attic windows) with clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks, and cast-iron rainwater goods on overhanging timber eaves. Painted roughcast walls (ivy-clad). Square-headed window openings with stone sills, and timber casement windows (having diamond-leaded panels to canted bay window). Square-headed door opening with glazed timber panelled door. Set back from line of road in grounds shared with Woodstown House having hedge boundary to perimeter of site.
Appraisal
A well-composed picturesque gate lodge forming an integral component of the Woodstown House estate, which has been well maintained to present an original aspect, and which contributes to the visual appeal of the locality.
http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-list.jsp?letter=W
In 1848 Woodstown House was held in fee by Lord Carew when it was valued at £76. Lewis refers to it in 1837 as the seat of Lord Carew. Slater refers to it as the residence of Lady Jane Carew in 1894. In 1774, Smith stated that Woodstown was “the house and improvements of Mrs. Matthew”. The ITA survey of 1945 stated that it was then owned by the Hearne family but unoccupied and was “suitably situated for a hotel”. It was subsequently let to visitors who included, in 1967, Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy (widow of John F. Kennedy) and her children. In 2011 it was offered for sale.
http://www.michaelhdaniels.com/Properties-For-Sale/6
Woodstown House, Woodstown, County Waterford
A fine Regency country house dated 1823 designed by the Paine brothers on the Waterford Estuary
Floor Area (sq. m): 600 Land Area (ha): 12
- Beds: 6
Baths: 5
Woodstown, Co. Waterford
An elegant Regency villa overlooking Waterford Harbour, attributed to George Richard Pain (1793-1828) of Cork, who had been a pupil of John Nash and came to Ireland with his brother James. It was built in 1823 onto an earlier small house (which survives at the rear) for Robert Shapland Carew (1787-1856), later 1st Baron Carew, as a present for his wife.
It is of two storeys and square in plan, with a graceful iron veranda running all round the ground floor. Each front has three bays, with six tripartite windows on the main south-east facing garden front and two in the centre of each of the side elevations. The shallow-pitched roof is supported on broad eaves. Inside, the house has delicate plasterwork in the main reception rooms. After the 1st Lord Carew’s death in 1856, Woodstown remained the home of his widow, Jane (1798-1901), who not only became a centenarian but had the rare distinction of living in three different centuries. It was sold to Edward A.W. Barron (1876-1939) after her death at the age of 102 in 1901, and he engaged Ashlin & Coleman (formerly Ashlin & Pugin) to make alterations and additions to the house. This firm, which was known almost exclusively for its Gothic work, was an unexpected choice to alter a delicate Regency house, but the link was probably that they had worked on Ferrybank Catholic Church for Sir Henry P-T. Barron a few years earlier. They proposed a Classical re-rendering of the façade of Woodstown, and the addition of a gallery, a library with neo-Celtic decoration and a new top-lit billiard room under a dome. Fortunately, nothing came of these proposals, and the house survived intact. It was bought in 1945 by Mr. C.D. Cholmeley-Harrison, a stockbroker who later carried out the notable restoration of Emo Court (Co. Leix). He let it for the summer of 1967 to Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of President J.F. Kennedy, who must count as the house’s most famous resident, even though she was only here for six weeks. The house has been discreetly modernised in recent years and the drawing room is no longer the rather relentless blue shown above.
Descent: Robert Shapland Carew (1787-1856), 1st Baron Carew; to widow, Jane, Lady Carew (1798-1901); to grandson, Robert Shapland George Julian Carew (1860-1923), 3rd Baron Carew, who sold to Edward Alphonse Winston Barron (d. 1939); sold 1944; sold 1945 to Cholmeley Dering Cholmeley-Harrison (1908-2008), who sold 1971…
Woodstown House is an elegant Regency villa overlooking Waterford harbour. It was built, or rather an earlier house was substantially altered, in 1823 by Robert Chapland Carew, later first Baron Carew, as a present for his wife, Jane Catherine Cliffe. The architect was George Richard Pain. A year before their wedding, Jane had attended ‘the most famous ball in history’ held by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on 15 June 1815, the night before the Battle of Waterloo. It is said that Jane danced with the Duke of Wellington. Born in 1798, she died in 1901 aged 103.
Winston Barron. He asked the architectural firm of Ashlin and Coleman to make proposals for alterations and additions to the house, a somewhat unusual choice as the practice was almost exclusively known for its Gothic ecclesiastical works. George Coppinger Ashlin was a son in law of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, the Gothic revivalist par excellence, and formed a partnership with Pugin’s son, Edward, in 1861. Pugin and Ashlin eventually became Ashlin and Coleman in 1903. The choice of architects might however be explained by the fact there was a Barron family connection to the firm. Sir Henry Page Turner Barron, Edward’s first cousin, had employed Pugin and Ashlin to work on Ferrybank Catholic Church, in Co. Waterford.
Ashlin and Coleman proposed a Classical re-rendering of the façade of Woodstown, and the additions of a gallery, a library with neo-Celtic decorations and a new billiard room. Top lit, with deep upholstered settees and a convenient lavatory, this would have been a distinctly masculine space ideally suited to the military man and bachelor which Edward Barron was.
As it happens, none of Ashlin and Coleman’s proposals for Woodstown were executed. In 1945 the house was purchased by Major Dering Cholmeley-Harrison who later owned Emo Court, Co Laois. In 1967 he let Woodstown House to Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of the assassinated US president. During her stay she described it as ‘typically Irish — 39 bedrooms and one bathroom’.
Anne Henderson,
IAA
Irish Historic Houses 