There are always a certain number of country houses on the market in Ireland and such occasions provide an opportunity to inspect properties not otherwise open to the public. At the moment, among the most interesting places for sale is Seafield, located some ten miles north of Dublin. Enjoying the benefits of excellent land and proximity to the capital, this area of the country underwent extensive development in the opening decades of the 18th century. Seafield was constructed during this period: although its precise date is unknown, some time around 1730 is usually proposed. The original owner was one Benedict Arthur, whose family had previously lived in what is now the suburb of Cabra. The Arthurs appear to have remained at Seafield at least for much of the 18th century, but by 1834 it formed part of the inheritance of Sophia Synge-Hutchinson Synge, daughter of the Rev. Sir Samuel Synge-Hutchinson. In that year she married a cousin, the Hon Coote Hely-Hutchinson and the property continued to be occupied by their descendants for the next century. During this period a large extension was added to the east side of the original house; it concludes in a four-storey Italianate tower. Seafield has been occupied by the vendors for more than twenty years.

Some discussion has taken place about who may have been the architect of Seafield. In design it is certainly indebted to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce (who died in 1733) but whether he had a direct hand in the work remains open to question. The exterior is like an Italian villa, particularly thanks to the two-storey granite pedimented Doric portico in antis approached by a flight of steps. Partly inside and partly outside the wall line, it dominates the south-facing facade of seven bays and three storeys over basement. The attic floor has three hip roofs which are echoed by the same number of gables to the rear of the building. The balustrading at the top of the building is presumably 19th century, like the plate glass that now fills all the windows but other elements like the rusticated surrounds on the ground floor windows and the quoins on the corners of the house are presumably original. According to Maurice Craig, ‘slight awkwardness in the handling’ of some features discourages an attribution to Pearce. ‘It is, even so, certain that Seafield is a building of the Pearce school, and even possible that the design was outlined by him and executed by someone else.’

Internally, the most striking feature of the house is its entrance hall which runs the full depth of the building and rises two storeys. This space looks much as it did when photographed by the first Irish Georgian Society for the fifth volume of its Records of Eighteenth Century Architecture and Decoration in Dublin, published in 1913. The walls are lined with superimposed fluted Ionic and Doric pilasters, and the spaces between them filled with grisaille classical figures somewhat in the style, although not from the hand, of Peter de Gree (who only came to Ireland in 1785, dying in Dublin just four years later). There are more such figures on the upper portion of the hall but also a number of gilt-framed canvases featuring polychromatic classical figures: it would appear these were a later addition to the decorative scheme. A gallery runs along this part of the space, providing access to the bedrooms in the eastern side of the building. The gallery is reached via a small staircase at the back of the hall: the greater part of the ground floor on this side of the house is occupied by the drawing room (shown in use as a dining room in the 1913 photograph). It has a richly decorated cornice and frieze and around the panelled walls runs a series of fluted Corinthian columns: here, as elsewhere, the original chimneypieces have long since been replaced. Across the hall are two more reception rooms, that to the rear (at present the dining room), also having panelled walls and fluted Corinthian pilasters. Another feature here is a pair of imaginary landscapes painted directly onto the panels over the doors, something of a rarity in Ireland. Not unlike Bellamont Forest in County Cavan (which can with more confidence be credited to Pearce) Seafield seems designed for use as an occasional villa rather than a full-time residence (there are, for example, only four bedrooms in the 18th century section of the house). It would have served as an ideal rural retreat from the bustle of Dublin life. So many similar historic houses in the greater Dublin area have been lost that its survival is remarkable. One hopes the new owners, whoever they might be, will appreciate the importance of this property.

For more information on Seafield, see http://www.sherryfitz.ie/residential/for-sale/83461