tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705771450596300887.post6413974732790010121..comments2024-03-29T14:33:35.746+00:00Comments on Lord Belmont in Northern Ireland: Ardress TransformationTimothy Belmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15111145260662707575noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705771450596300887.post-31275908321667977242016-05-18T17:57:01.992+01:002016-05-18T17:57:01.992+01:00Oh dear, do ignore me... I have only just seen you...Oh dear, do ignore me... I have only just seen your "Ardress Visit" post (!)<br />The Modern Aesthetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15936306411146546923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705771450596300887.post-87542060804213397202016-05-18T17:54:50.324+01:002016-05-18T17:54:50.324+01:00I live not far from Ardress and it has, for as lon...I live not far from Ardress and it has, for as long as I can remember, looked as it does in the first photograph (it was, until recently, a dusty pink colour). I don't think the National Trust can be credited with transforming a rather ugly house into a more handsome one; I personally cannot recall the rather unsightly lean-to and, the colour change aside, I was under the impression that the works being carried out at the moment were more structural than aesthetic (the house is listed, surely?). <br /><br />I'm not sure if you know this, Timothy, but it is not possible to access the dining room (which houses some fine paintings on loan from Earl Castle Stewart) without going outside; the french doors on the garden facade allow access and there in another side door that opens onto a small courtyard on the other side of the house. There was once a conservatory linking the drawing room and the dining room.<br /><br />I'm glad to see the National Trust spending some money on Ardress at last; it is a very pretty house in a wonderful, tranquil setting. The Modern Aesthetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15936306411146546923noreply@blogger.com