INTRODUCING BALLYFIN
March 9thIreland
Set at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, just over an hour from Dublin, this is a family-owned masterpiece that feels less like a commercial enterprise and more like a private invitation.
The Restoration
After eighty years as a boys’ school, Ballyfin was acquired in the late 1990s by the Krehbiel family. Their goal was simple but ambitious: to restore the house as a living home to a standard Ireland had not yet seen.
It took ten years. Supported by historians and master craftsmen, the project was an act of preservation. Today, the house is filled with museum-quality Irish and European art, Chippendale antiques, and the iconic Richard Turner conservatory — a glass-and-iron anchor that connects the interior to the 614-acre estate.
Space and Story
With just 21 rooms and suites, the house remains intimate. Each room tells a different chapter of the estate’s history:
The Sir Christopher Coote Suite: Features 18th-century Chinese panels once owned by the Prince of Hanover.
The Sir Charles Coote Room: Conceals a Roman marble sarcophagus bath beneath a cantilevered staircase.
The Tapestry Room: Hung with 17th-century Flemish tapestries overlooking the lake.
The Custodians
Ballyfin’s character is shaped by its people. Many of the team, from butlers to landscapers, first knew these halls as students during the school years. They have returned not as staff, but as custodians. This continuity lends a rare authenticity to the house – a sense of stewardship that guests often cite as its most defining quality.
From the Walled Garden
At the center of daily life is the eight-acre walled garden. In early 2025, the kitchen’s commitment to this land was recognized with a Michelin star.
Executive Chef Richard Picard-Edwards works with the seasons, serving dinner in the candlelit State Dining Room and lunch in the Turner Conservatory – reached via a hidden door behind a library bookcase.
The Estate
The house sits within 614 acres of parkland and woodland, arranged around Ireland’s largest man-made pleasure lake. Guests move through the grounds on foot, by horse-drawn carriage, or by boat.
The pursuits here – falconry, clay pigeon shooting, archery – are intrinsic to the estate. For those seeking the theatrical, an extensive collection of period costumes from the Lyric Opera of Chicago is available for exclusive-use guests to host dress-up evenings, nodding to the house-party spirit of the 19th century.