Following his recent wedding to Olivia Henson, the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, is making more big moves: selling the family's Irish estate for €12,000,000. Fortwilliam Estate, to give it its proper name, is a highly coveted property near Lismore in County Waterford, with more than just a stately home to shout about. Set on 158 hectares of prime Irish farming land, it houses the ten bedroom house, a herd of donkeys, wine cellar, multiple cottages and houses dotted across the land and gardens that simply go on and on.
Fortwilliam House dates back to 1836 and is built in a Tudor Revival style. It was William Gumbleton who built it on the land – and named it after himself, a move which he stole from Richard Dumbleton three generations before him, who built another house on the land and gave it the title of Castlerichard. Fortwilliam House and its surrounding hectares were bought by the 2nd Duke of Westminster (also called Hugh Grosvenor) in 1946, and he added a lot of embellishments to it. Think Louis XV boiserie detailing in one of the sitting rooms, panelling in the dining room from his yacht and a lot of gilded touches. There are lots of truly lovely decorative touches, including ogival arches throughout and Delft tiles that match the Aga in the kitchen.
It is not just the house with its ten bedrooms, grand sweeping staircase, panelled dining room, four living rooms and much more that appeals; there are a further five houses in the lot, as well as stables, farm buildings, parkland, woods, formal walled gardens and 5km of prime fishing access in the River Blackwater. The estate is being sold either as an entire lot for €12,000,000, or two separate lots: one with the house and 117 hectares of land, the other the remaining 41 hectares of farming land.
As for whether the current Duke of Westminster will miss having the property in his portfolio, it is doubtful, given he is worth an estimated £10 billion, owns all of Grosvenor Estates and has houses in Cheshire (Eaton Hall, the family seat with 11,000 acres), land in Tokyo, Stockholm and an entire island off the coast Vancouver.
As for who may become the new owner of Fortwilliam Estate, we can only hope that they continue adding to its impressive roster of socialites who have lived there or visited its hallowed halls – though surely the nuns at neighbouring Glencairn Abbey may be hoping for it to pass on to a quieter owner.
