Photographed in the midst of a downpour, the Red Lodge at Cloverhill, County Cavan. This was originally a gate lodge probably designed by Francis Johnston (who was responsible c.1799 for the now-ruinous main house elsewhere on the estate). However towards the end of the 19th century the building was enlarged to become a farm manager’s residence. At the same time it was heavily embellished in the arts and crafts style; the architect is not known. What survives of Johnston’s work is the canted side with arched windows, but otherwise the lodge has been given a thorough make-over in which the dominant feature are the timber Oriel windows and corresponding entrance porch on the ground floor.
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Reblogged this on Tours Irlande and commented:
Le comté Cavan regorge de petits trésors. Contactez nous pour les découvrir. Eirewalk.com. Mireille
Robert,
First of all many thanks for the education and entertainment during the last year. Your blog is a pleasure to read.
Looking at the Red Lodge, I wonder could the second architect have been James F Fuller? The ‘eight over two’ windows are typical of his style and used in many of his works. He lived in Cavan for about 10 years when he was North Western District Architect for the Irish Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Although he left c1871, he continued to have projects there – the glebe houses at Ballintemple (1877) and Tessauran (1878) come to mind. Also he was no stranger to Arts & Crafts. His 1880 design for the Superintendent’s / Keeper’s Lodge in St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin includes a steep dormer, windows with heavy mullions, fancy bargeboards and also contrasting massy sandstone.
Dear Bob,
What an interesting suggestion. What you say makes a lot of sense, although given that Fuller was such a remorseless self-publicist I wonder if he could have ignored the opportunity to promote his work even on such a small building as this?
Dear Robert,
It’s a suggestion/possibility. When living in Cavan JFF’s home was in Killeshandra which is about 20 kms. from the above cottage. I fully agree that he was expert in blowing his own trumpet; however, it tended to be about his aristocratic connections and genealogical matters rather than his architectural work, much of which was never mentioned by him. For example, he never wrote about D’Olier Chambers (built 1891 for the Gallaher Tobacco Company). It is possibly the earliest steel frame building in these islands, even though many assert that title for the Royal Insurance Building in Liverpool (commenced 1896). In his autobiography ‘Omniana’ he mentions his professional work only in passing and in a coded fashion. There are more frequent professional references in his ‘Reminiscences of 50 years’ article (Irish Builder Jubilee Number 1909) but even in that they are sparse. The Tessauran Glebe was added to his list of works after accidental ‘discovery’. I believe that there is more of his work out there waiting to be identified.
The outside does indeed look like arts and crafts. Would love to see the interior.