History and good taste are the pillars of Enniscoe, a splendid house set beneath the towering presence of Mount Nephin in parkland surrounding Lough Conn. If the sitting room’s exquisitely restored ceiling and cornices seduce you, the rarer, grander drawing room will bowl you over: 1790s marble fireplace, 1850s wallpapers, curvaceous antiques. Susan is a descendant of the original family who arrived here in the 1660s and runs it all beautifully, aided by her son DJ. A fabulous pink-carpeted staircase winds up from floor to floor, to grand, tall-windowed rooms softly decorated with plush beds, paintings by Susan’s mother and the spectacular lake view – or to lower, cosier farmhouse rooms with sprigged florals. Three simple but comfortable self-catering houses, with books, beams, patios and woody views, lie off the courtyard. The grounds are a dream, and open to the public: five acres of restored Victorian gardens, trails through woodland, boats to fish the lake, a tea shop for light lunches, a Heritage Centre that traces family trees. Cows in the pasture, dogs by the fire, divine dinners. Special!
