Mount Stewart, Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland
Anne Stewart enjoys visiting a grand house that has benefited greatly from restoration
Mount Stewart stands in 1,000 acres of wooded demesne on the shores of Strangford Lough in County Down and is one of the most beautifully situated historic houses in Ireland.
A rare survival of country-house taste during the interwar years, the house and gardens have recently reopened following the National Trust’s £8m restoration project.
The Irish seat of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, marquesses of Londonderry, Mount Stewart was the childhood home of their most famous member, the diplomat and foreign secretary Lord Castlereagh (1769-1822). Castlereagh masterminded the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the boundaries of Europe after the Napoleonic wars,
and Mount Stewart contains a number of treasures associated with his career.
In the 1830s, the original house was aggrandised by the Irish architect William Vitruvius Morrison, and in the early 1920s the seventh marquess – Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart – and his wife Edith, Lady Londonderry, made Mount Stewart their principal residence. The gardens and decoration of the house are largely Lady Londonderry's creation.
The gardens at Mount Stewart were accepted by the National Trust in 1957, and in 1976 the organisation acquired the house and its most important paintings and furniture. In 2013, the remaining contents of the house – around 700 objects – were accepted in lieu of inheritance tax. Permanently allocated to the trust, it was the first time the entire contents of a house had been acquired in this way.
Faithful representation
The recent restoration took three years and involved extensive work to the fabric of the house and the re-presentation of a number of rooms. Now that the work is finished and Mount Stewart has been brought back to its 1920s and 1930s glory days, there is a real sense that the family have simply stepped out of the house for a moment.
The visit begins in the outer hall and the adjacent old billiards room, which contains clear information panels (the only ones in the house). Visitors are offered a well-produced booklet (free to borrow, £1 to keep) that highlights the treasures of the house and gives a brief family history. Guides have detailed notes to satisfy searching questions and their friendly presence strikes the right note.
A successful free-flow arrangement encourages visitors to wander at will through the house. When I was there, local families with children and a visiting group of American academics all spent as long as they wished in the uncrowded rooms.
Although the Londonderrys later acquired larger properties in England and Wales through marriage, Mount Stewart continued to play an important role in family life, particularly as a backdrop to the high-level political entertaining that continued during the interwar years.
The representation of the house highlights the great set-pieces of the family’s power and prestige, most notably the rehanging of a superb group of family portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence, the expert reframing of Hambletonian, Rubbing Down by George Stubbs, and the chairs brought back from the Congress of Vienna by Castlereagh, which are still used in the dining room.
Attention to detail
The triumph of the restoration is in the detail, which continues to delight throughout the visit. The precise shade of pale salmon pink used to make new linings for the curtains in Lady Londonderry’s private sitting room is faithful to the original colour, chosen as
the most flattering shade for the feminine complexion.
The carpets are casually rolled back so that visitors can walk freely but also enjoy the shades and textures of an Aubusson carpet without plastic coverings, which would ruin the intended impression of the room.
Above all, Mount Stewart is a fascinating example of aristocratic, country-house taste of the 1920s and 1930s. Decorative ceramics are arranged magnificently in order of manufacturer and, set against views to the garden, possess a freshness often lost in a formal museum setting.
There is a welcome absence of signage, ropes and barriers, along with some excellent innovations. It was a pleasure to turn a corner and find the old gun room kitted out with shelves and brilliant scarlet fabric, creating an impressive silver room that includes the Paul Storr Service from Castlereagh’s diplomatic mission to Vienna.
The most enduring impression is the accuracy with which the house has been re-presented. The advice of Lady Rose Lauritzen, Lady Londonderry’s grand-daughter, who grew up at Mount Stewart, has brought the accumulated memory of several generations to the project.
The attention to detail also makes clear the subtle distinctions between public and private rooms. In Lord and Lady Londonderry’s private library and sitting room, portraits of their children above the chimneypieces echo the elaborate hang of family portraits in the public “parade rooms”.
The clutter of photographs, card tables and tea tables also illustrates the interweaving of
the public and private lives of the family. The importance of this forensic approach should not be undervalued, and will be of immense benefit for future research into Mount Stewart and the Londonderry family.
Impressive collection
A great deal of information about the history of the family, and the ways in which taste, fashion and political events informed the decoration of Mount Stewart, is provided without over-interpretation. The treasures of the house are highlighted, and visitors are encouraged to discover more about the family through portraits and anecdotes.
The house also includes some of the most valuable Londonderry possessions, on loan from the present marquess, notably a splendid Lawrence portrait of Castlereagh’s sister-in-law, the heiress Frances Anne, and the magnificent desk used at the Congress of Vienna.
It is the completeness of the collections and the impressive concentration of some of the finest paintings and interiors in Ireland that combine to make Mount Stewart a must-see destination.
Anne Stewart is the curator of fine art at National Museums Northern Ireland
Cost £8m
Main funders National Trust, with gifts from supporters and funders, including Garfield Weston; Wolfson Foundation; Northern Ireland Environment Agency; Royal Oak Foundation; B H Breslauer Foundation; John and Elizabeth Lauritzen Foundation; Friends of National Libraries; Northern Ireland Museums Council; Esme Mitchell Trust; Michael Marks Charitable Trust; A E Harvey Trust; Rayne Trust
Lead contractor H&J Martin
Conservation architect Richard Elphick
Interior design and decoration James Finlay, Ian Drake Design, Faulkner Interiors
A rare survival of country-house taste during the interwar years, the house and gardens have recently reopened following the National Trust’s £8m restoration project.
The Irish seat of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, marquesses of Londonderry, Mount Stewart was the childhood home of their most famous member, the diplomat and foreign secretary Lord Castlereagh (1769-1822). Castlereagh masterminded the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the boundaries of Europe after the Napoleonic wars,
and Mount Stewart contains a number of treasures associated with his career.
In the 1830s, the original house was aggrandised by the Irish architect William Vitruvius Morrison, and in the early 1920s the seventh marquess – Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart – and his wife Edith, Lady Londonderry, made Mount Stewart their principal residence. The gardens and decoration of the house are largely Lady Londonderry's creation.
The gardens at Mount Stewart were accepted by the National Trust in 1957, and in 1976 the organisation acquired the house and its most important paintings and furniture. In 2013, the remaining contents of the house – around 700 objects – were accepted in lieu of inheritance tax. Permanently allocated to the trust, it was the first time the entire contents of a house had been acquired in this way.
Faithful representation
The recent restoration took three years and involved extensive work to the fabric of the house and the re-presentation of a number of rooms. Now that the work is finished and Mount Stewart has been brought back to its 1920s and 1930s glory days, there is a real sense that the family have simply stepped out of the house for a moment.
The visit begins in the outer hall and the adjacent old billiards room, which contains clear information panels (the only ones in the house). Visitors are offered a well-produced booklet (free to borrow, £1 to keep) that highlights the treasures of the house and gives a brief family history. Guides have detailed notes to satisfy searching questions and their friendly presence strikes the right note.
A successful free-flow arrangement encourages visitors to wander at will through the house. When I was there, local families with children and a visiting group of American academics all spent as long as they wished in the uncrowded rooms.
Although the Londonderrys later acquired larger properties in England and Wales through marriage, Mount Stewart continued to play an important role in family life, particularly as a backdrop to the high-level political entertaining that continued during the interwar years.
The representation of the house highlights the great set-pieces of the family’s power and prestige, most notably the rehanging of a superb group of family portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence, the expert reframing of Hambletonian, Rubbing Down by George Stubbs, and the chairs brought back from the Congress of Vienna by Castlereagh, which are still used in the dining room.
Attention to detail
The triumph of the restoration is in the detail, which continues to delight throughout the visit. The precise shade of pale salmon pink used to make new linings for the curtains in Lady Londonderry’s private sitting room is faithful to the original colour, chosen as
the most flattering shade for the feminine complexion.
The carpets are casually rolled back so that visitors can walk freely but also enjoy the shades and textures of an Aubusson carpet without plastic coverings, which would ruin the intended impression of the room.
Above all, Mount Stewart is a fascinating example of aristocratic, country-house taste of the 1920s and 1930s. Decorative ceramics are arranged magnificently in order of manufacturer and, set against views to the garden, possess a freshness often lost in a formal museum setting.
There is a welcome absence of signage, ropes and barriers, along with some excellent innovations. It was a pleasure to turn a corner and find the old gun room kitted out with shelves and brilliant scarlet fabric, creating an impressive silver room that includes the Paul Storr Service from Castlereagh’s diplomatic mission to Vienna.
The most enduring impression is the accuracy with which the house has been re-presented. The advice of Lady Rose Lauritzen, Lady Londonderry’s grand-daughter, who grew up at Mount Stewart, has brought the accumulated memory of several generations to the project.
The attention to detail also makes clear the subtle distinctions between public and private rooms. In Lord and Lady Londonderry’s private library and sitting room, portraits of their children above the chimneypieces echo the elaborate hang of family portraits in the public “parade rooms”.
The clutter of photographs, card tables and tea tables also illustrates the interweaving of
the public and private lives of the family. The importance of this forensic approach should not be undervalued, and will be of immense benefit for future research into Mount Stewart and the Londonderry family.
Impressive collection
A great deal of information about the history of the family, and the ways in which taste, fashion and political events informed the decoration of Mount Stewart, is provided without over-interpretation. The treasures of the house are highlighted, and visitors are encouraged to discover more about the family through portraits and anecdotes.
The house also includes some of the most valuable Londonderry possessions, on loan from the present marquess, notably a splendid Lawrence portrait of Castlereagh’s sister-in-law, the heiress Frances Anne, and the magnificent desk used at the Congress of Vienna.
It is the completeness of the collections and the impressive concentration of some of the finest paintings and interiors in Ireland that combine to make Mount Stewart a must-see destination.
Anne Stewart is the curator of fine art at National Museums Northern Ireland
Project data
Cost £8m
Main funders National Trust, with gifts from supporters and funders, including Garfield Weston; Wolfson Foundation; Northern Ireland Environment Agency; Royal Oak Foundation; B H Breslauer Foundation; John and Elizabeth Lauritzen Foundation; Friends of National Libraries; Northern Ireland Museums Council; Esme Mitchell Trust; Michael Marks Charitable Trust; A E Harvey Trust; Rayne Trust
Lead contractor H&J Martin
Conservation architect Richard Elphick
Interior design and decoration James Finlay, Ian Drake Design, Faulkner Interiors