Lady Gordon

Lady Gordon, a lady of titled Irish lineage and whose ancestor, Bess Stokes’ ghost is said to haunt the grounds, purchased the parcel of land on which the house now stands and in 1913 commenced to build “The House of my Dreams”. It took just over one year to complete. She enlisted the help of a contractor from Killorglin, using local workmen and all the materials were of Irish origin, except the greenery-grey Westmorland roof slates. The house is long and low and gabled, with casement windows set in stone mullions, “…and never”, said Lady

Lady Gordon, “…looked new". Perhaps because of the warm brown sandstone, or the Kerry climate which gave it the appearance immediately of having weathered the rain and the winds of centuries.
It has the style of an English-Elizabethan house, but when the visitor, pointing to the rounded cut stone arch over the entrance door, exclaimed: “A Romanesque door in an Elizabethan house”, Lady Gordon stoutly defended her design, explaining that it was an Irish house and that as there is no traditional domestic

architecture in Ireland, her architect, one: Morley Horden (chosen for his romantic appearance rather than any outstanding ability) had sought inspiration in the ruined churches, which are the only survival in Kerry of an ancient Gaelic civilization. Belonging to no particular age or style the house fits harmoniously into the landscape in an aura of greens and browns and purple hue.