Ard na Sidhe is a boutique country house hotel in the Arts and Crafts style that stands, within a beautiful garden setting, overlooking Caragh Lake in South Kerry. Built to the designs of the English architect Percy Richard Morley Horder, it has been operating as a small hotel since 1960, during which time the interior of the house was altered significantly. Using our experience gained at Lambay Castle, we created a new Arts and Crafts interior for the hotel.
Few original internal features survived, other than a couple of chimney pieces and a small number of cornices. All of the original steel framed leaded casement windows were repaired and the stone exterior repointed in lime. The work included the radical re-planning of all bedrooms and public areas, while the original oak staircase was remodelled and opened up around a new oak panelled double height hall, with green Westmorland slate floors (replicating the roof coverings that had survived). We provided a full interior design service with all rooms having a different design, using fabrics and wall papers from Morris & Co. We designed new furniture and oversaw the careful restoration of antique furniture, rugs, paintings and prints. We also provided landscape design services and completed a second phase of work to provide nine rooms in the detached garden house.
The work included the radical re-planning of all bedrooms and public areas, while the original oak staircase was remodelled and opened up around a new oak panelled double height hall