Harristown

Classification: Manoir
Pays: Irlande
Région: County Kildare
Adresse: Harristown, Brannockstown, Kildare
Époque / style: Late Georgian neo-classical

Harristown, near Punchestown in County Kildare, is a refined late Georgian neo-classical house of cut stone standing beside the River Liffey in heavily wooded demesne within the western foothills of the Wicklow Mountains. Attributed to architect Whitmore Davis, the structure was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1901 and restored by High Victorian architect James Franklin Fuller, who removed the upper storey but did not replicate the original late Georgian interiors. Today the house is seven bays wide with three storeys, featuring a pedimented three-bay breakfront on the principal facade and paired full-height bows facing the river, with an elegant Ionic porch at the entrance and three windows grouped under a blind half-elliptical neoclassical arch. The La Touches were a Huguenot family from the Loire who fled to Holland then Ireland, amassing fortunes in weaving and banking. La Touche's Bank was founded in 1715 and traded for over 170 years. The family became original stockholders of the Bank of Ireland in 1783, with a La Touche serving as its first Governor. They were renowned philanthropists and patrons of architecture and the arts, building important houses throughout Dublin and surrounding counties. The second David La Touche purchased the Harristown estate in 1768, subsequently inherited by his second son John, who commissioned the new great house. La Touche descendants remained until 1921. The last John La Touche, known as "The Master" for his hunting pursuits, later became a Baptist convert and built a church, manse and school at Brannockstown. John Ruskin, the celebrated Victorian writer and art critic, visited Harristown. Lady Maria La Touche sought his assistance developing her daughter Rose's artistic tastes; the two fell in love, but Rose refused marriage and subsequently died in an asylum. In 1946 Major Michael Beaumont and his wife Doreen purchased the estate, installing furniture and pictures from their former Buckinghamshire home where Sir John Soane had designed interiors. Doreen brought Soanian influences including non-traditional Georgian colours. The front hall is a magnificent double-height room accessing main reception areas; the library, drawing room and dining room contain 17th-century Chinese wallpaper and Tudor panelling. Today the Beaumont family maintains Harristown and farms the estate. Available as a film location and open to the public in May and September, with individual and group house visits, garden visitors and educational visits by arrangement, and special events such as family celebrations and receptions.

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