Temple House
Set on a 1,000 acre estate on the shores of a pristine Lake in rural Co. Sligo, Temple House is a charming and atmospheric historic country house with six guest rooms, offering fine dining, abundant hospitality, and a wealth of recreational opportunities.
Hosts Roderick and Helena Perceval welcome guests into their idyllic country house retreat. Since 1665 Temple House has been occupied by the Percevals. The present home, dating to 1825, has abundant atmosphere, with grand entry ways, fine sitting rooms, and open fires. Adorning the walls is an amazing collection of antique paintings, ancestral portraits, and exotic game species. Furnishings, curtains and toilets all date to 1864.
Each of the six en suite guest rooms are massive in size (one is referred to as the "half acre" room), full of character and period charms. Five of the rooms are doubles and one is single.
"This is very much a family home, not a hotel. People come here for the Temple House experience," said Roderick. That experience involves interacting with guests who dine together around a big dinner table. And interacting with the Percevals, who are consummate hosts, sharing anecdotes and insights into the home and countryside.
Fine dining is one of the many attractions at Temple House, serving gorgeous breakfasts and communal dinners. Whenever possible ingredients are sourced locally, with produce from local organic suppliers, fruit from the organic walled kitchen garden, lamb from the farm, pike or perch from the lake, and locally caught wild salmon. Meals are thoughtfully and skillfully prepared. After dining guests retire to the drawing room and invariably avail of the Honors Bar.
The Temple House experience is also very much about exploring the grounds of this beautiful, rambling estate. Temple House is on the shores of a 400 acre lake suitable for perch and trout fishing, or just paddling a boat and exploring and guests are welcome to boats and fishing rods. Some of the estate is still an active sheep farm, with 1800 Connemara ewes. But much of the estate remains set aside as a preserve.
Temple House is a nature lover's paradise. Herons nest in the beech trees and there are Pinemartin in the woods. Otters play on the shore and duck, pheasant, swans, kingfishers, crested grebes and peregrine falcon are among over 100 birds seen here. Guests of Temple House are provided with maps to explore miles of interesting walks that take in the farm, woodlands, and Special Area of Conservation. The estate even has a Normon-era promontory fort to explore.
Temple House is in the heart of Yeats Country and there are numerous attractions and activities in close proximity, including Lough Gill, Parkes Castle and Lissadell House. Also within easy access are County Sligo has a rich array of archaeological sites, including Bronze Age graves, Dolmens, Stone circles, and Ring forts, as are riding stables, golf courses, magnificent mountain scenery, lakes, waterfalls and miles of beautiful beaches.
What the Temple House experience doesn't involve is watching television, or indulging at the health spa. At present the Percevals have resisted the trend toward providing a TV in every room, or even in a common sitting room. The purpose of Temple House is to get away and relax in quietude, simplicity and beauty of the countryside. Temple House is not entirely without modern conveniences, with complimentary wireless internet throughout much of the premises.
Walking through the Vestibule, Roderick Perceval routinely passes underneath the pantheon of ancestral portraits looming down upon passersby. "They're Keeping tabs on the current generation," he muses. If so they certainly aren't disappointed. Helena and Roderick are proudly and ably maintaining the Temple House tradition, infused with youthful energy.
