It’s one of the most significant historical buildings in Ireland and the country’s “best and earliest example of a Palladian villa”, according to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage – and yet Bellamont Forest in County Cavan is on An Taisce’s list of significant buildings at risk, due to vacancy, water damage and neglect.
The house was completed in 1730 by Judge Thomas Coote and designed by the talented architect Edward Lovett Pearce. The estate was gambled away by descendant John Coote in 1874 and bought by the Dorman-Smiths, whose most famous member, Eric ‘Chink’ Dorman-Smith, served in the British army in both world wars before being sacked in 1942.
Coote died suddenly in 2012, and the house is now for sale on the instructions of receivers for Coote’s company, Thameside Holding, this time with a price of €1.35 million.
See photos and read more about the fascinating story behind the villa here.
