Summerhill House

Summerhill House
Map
General information
StatusPrivate dwelling house
TypeHouse
Architectural stylePalladian
Baroque
ClassificationDemolished
Town or citySummerhill, County Meath
CountryIreland
Coordinates53°28′49″N 6°43′57″W / 53.4801618°N 6.7325901°W / 53.4801618; -6.7325901
Elevation50 m (160 ft)
Estimated completion1731
DemolishedArson (4 Feb 1921)
Demolition (1959)
Final clearance (1970)
Height30 m (98 ft)
Dimensions
Other dimensions300 feet in length
Technical details
Materiallimestone
Size389,000 cubic feet
Floor count3
Design and construction
Architect(s)Designed by Edward Lovett Pearce
Completed by Richard Cassels
DeveloperHercules Langford Rowley
Known forThe largest house in Ireland
Other information
Number of roomscirca 100

Summerhill House was a 100-roomed Palladian house in County Meath, Ireland which was the ancestral seat of the Viscounts Langford and the Barons Langford. Built in 1731, it was likely designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce and completed by Richard Cassels in the Palladian style, although Sir John Vanbrugh, who was related to Pearce and with whom he trained, is thought to have also influenced the design of the house, which could be seen by the Baroque details, great arched chimney stacks and the palatial grandeur and scale.[1]

The house demonstrated the power and wealth the Langford Rowley family had at the time. They owned vast amounts of land in counties Meath, Westmeath, Cork, Londonderry, Antrim, and Dublin as well as in Devon and Cornwall in England. The house also welcomed royalty, and ranked architecturally amongst the finest and most modern mansions in Europe.[2]

Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin and president of the Irish Georgian Society described its loss as "probably the greatest tragedy in the history of Irish domestic architecture".[3]

  1. ^ Maurice Craig, "The quest for Edward Lovett Pearce", Irish Arts Review Yearbook, Vol. 12 (1996), 27–34
  2. ^ Tarquin Blake, Abandoned Ireland
  3. ^ Dooley, Terence (19 April 2022). Burning the Big House: The Story of the Irish Country House in a Time of War and Revolution. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300265118. Retrieved 30 June 2023.