Roundwood House

Described as having “a marvellous doll’s house–like quality” by the Hon. Desmond Guinness, founder of the Irish Georgian Society, Roundwood nestles in the green embrace of the Slieve Bloom Mountains in County Laois. 

This detached five-bay three-storey house over part-basement with pedimented advanced entrance bay was built in 1731 for a well-to-do Quaker family of cloth makers called Sharp. Behind its front door lies a gorgeous double-height entrance hall with two cantilevered galleries. Roundwood not only retains much of its historic charm but also many of its original features, not least Black Kilkenny marble chimneypieces, carved timber architraves to window openings and sublime Rococo plasterwork. 

Despite its prosperous beginnings, by 1835, the house and demesne of 1,680 acres had been assigned to a Dublin attorney to cover the Sharp family’s debts as their fortunes declined. One of the witnesses to the deed of transfer was a first cousin once-removed, William Hamilton of Peafield, also in Laois. Two years later, the same Hamilton was shown to be in possession of Roundwood. His descendants remained there until 1968 when Major Maurice Chetwode Hamilton sold the house and remaining 200 acres to the Land Commission.

In the 1970s, Roundwood fell into disrepair but fortunately was rescued from demolition by the Irish Georgian Society which meticulously restored it over a decade. Thereafter, the house became something of a magnet for the bohemian set and was home to amongst others, Henrietta Moraes, the muse of Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon. She, in fact, invited Eric Burdon, frontman of the Animals, to record his debut solo album at Roundwood.  

Still surrounded by 18 acres of woodland, Roundwood was bought by Frank and Rosemary Kennan in 1983. They subsequently opened it to guests for the next 25 years, becoming renowned for their exceptional welcome. Their daughter Hannah and her Canadian husband Paddy continue that tradition today.