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Originally built by Lady Gordon, a lady of titled Irish lineage whose ancestor, Bess Stokes’ ghost is said to haunt the grounds, Lady Gordon purchased the land on which the house now stands and in 1913 began building “The House of my Dreams”. She enlisted the help of a contractor from Killorglin, using local workmen and all the materials were of Irish origin, except the green/grey Westmorland roof slates. The house is long, low and gabled, with casement windows set in stone mullions, “…and never”, said 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 a 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.
Lady Edith Gordon was also a keen gardener, traveler and writer, who planted many trees and laid out a number of garden features most of which have long since disappeared except the rock garden which still contains some of her original plantings. Lady Gordon wrote an account of her life entitled The Winds of Time in which she describes how she began her garden. As far as we are aware no further major planting was carried out until the late 1970s when many rare and unusual trees and shrubs were supplied by Hilliers, the Hampshire nursery farm. In the years since, a great deal of scrub clearance has taken place to make way for new planting which continues today.
Ard na Sidhe, meaning Hill of the Fairies, referring to the tree-covered knoll close by the hotel, is situated on a rocky slope facing west across the waters of Caragh Lake.
The estate was purchased by the late Dr. Liebherr in 1958 and began welcoming guests 2 years later.& In recent years, the house has been carefully restored by architect's Howley Hayes who lovingly brought back the house to its original splendour without losing an ounce of its charm. Ard na Sidhe Country House now stands as a very rare and fine example of an Arts and Crafts style house.
