Powerscourt House

Powerscourt House
The facade at Powerscourt.
General information
Architectural style	Palladian
Town or city	Enniskerry, County Wicklow
Country	Ireland
Construction started	1731
Completed	1741
Client	Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt
Design and construction
Architect	Richard Cassels

Powerscourt Estate (Irish: Eastát Chúirt an Phaoraigh), located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landscaped gardens, today occupying 19 hectares (47 acres). The house, originally a 13th-century castle, was extensively altered during the 18th century by German architect Richard Cassels, starting in 1731 and finishing in 1741. A fire in 1974 left the house lying as a shell until it was renovated in 1996.

Originally the family seat of the Viscounts Powerscourt, the estate has been owned by the Slazenger family, founders and former owners of the Slazenger sporting goods business, since 1961. It is a popular tourist attraction, and includes Powerscourt Golf Club, an Avoca Handweavers restaurant, and an Autograph Collection Hotel.

There is also the Powerscourt House, Dublin, which was the townhouse of the viscount.

The original owner of the 13th-century castle was a man by the name of La Poer, which was eventually anglicised to "Power." The castle's position was of strategic military importance because the castle's owner could control access to the nearby Dargle, Glencree and Glencullen rivers.

The three-story house had at least 68 rooms. The entrance hall, where family heirlooms were displayed, was 18 metres (60 ft) long and 12 metres (40 ft) wide. The main reception rooms were on the first floor rather than on the ground floor, the more typical location. A mile-long avenue of beech trees leads to the house.