Garden of delights
Gardener Jimi Blake's Blessington family estate is on the market
Friday October 03 2008
At first glance, Tinode House looks just like Stokesay Court, in Shropshire, England - the country estate on which the 2007 movie Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and James McEvoy, was filmed. A visit there, however, reveals a more magical, peculiarly Irish estate, the kind of place on which you could imagine the plot of a Molly Keane novel unfold.
The grounds and gardens are gorgeously wild. The house sits on 309 acres, but is on the market for €5.5m with 190 acres. Should more land be required by the purchaser, it is a possibility.
The house is currently home to Kathleen Blake, who reared her six children there alongside her late husband Jim. Her family grown and settled, Kathleen is looking to downsize.
Given the beautiful gardens at Tinode, it is no surprise that two of her brood - Jimi and June - are prominent in the field of horticulture. Both have gardens near Tinode - June Blake's garden and nursery (www.juneblake.ie/gardens) and Jimi's Hunting Brook gardens (www.huntingbrook.com).
The 40 yard herbaceous border in which Jimi is pictured, was designed by Jimi and June, and is surrounded by all the rare and unusual plants to be found in Tinode, most notable the two huge Rhododendrons that sit to the front of the house, framing the gravity-fed fountain, that in turn sits in front of two large wrought iron Victorian gates, more of which later.
"For a kid it was a fascinating place to grow up because you were constantly finding new and exciting things and places" says Jimi.
"It was magic really. We spent the whole time exploring in the woods and in the big Rhododendrons, climbing up into the canopies . . .
"When I was in national school I started propagating plants, taking cuttings and seeds from the original plants here. I would buy books and try and identify what was in the garden - and there are an awful lot of rare things in it. There is a fascinating collection of trees.
"I'd say I was only in sixth class when I set up a stall at the bottom of the road at weekends and I used to sell the plants that I grew from what was actually in the garden - plants that were over a hundred years old. That's how I started off my gardening life."
The house too was a great source of fun for the kids. When the Blakes bought the house in the 1950s it was a shell. Originally built in 1860 for WHF Cogan Esquire, a nationalist member of parliament, it was partially destroyed by fire in 1922. Only the billiard room, the oratory, two adjoining bedrooms, the staff wing and the coach houses escaped damage.
By the early 1980s, the house was ready for the Blakes to move in and the restorations continued. There is currently a reception hall, drawing room, dining room, library, study, billiards room, kitchen, boot room, four bedrooms, a bathroom and a shower room. The new owner has plenty of scope to further the restorations, or indeed go right back to scratch and restore the house to its original layout.
The house is currently home to some amazing antiques, collected by Jimi's father, an avid auction attendee, over the years. The Blakes have pieces from all of Ireland's important houses - Powerscourt, Luttrelstown Castle and Ashford Castle among them, and Jimi has happy memories of attending the auctions.
"I always went to auctions with my father and that was fascinating. And if you weren't brought to the auction, you were brought to the collecting.
"You'd go with the horsebox and you wouldn't know what he would have bought. Wonderful stuff to complete rubbish. I will always remember the time he brought the toys from Luttrelstown, that was amazing."
In summing up the magic of his childhood home Jimi says: "It was a lifetime's work for my father, and he did some crazy things - like taking the iron gates off the walled garden and putting them behind the fountain. They are kind of like the gates to the world. They really knew how to position a house back then."
Savills Hamilton Osborne King are asking €5.5m. House includes curtains and carpets. Vendors open to negotiation on contents. Tel 01 6634650 for more details. Joint agents JP&M Doyle, 01 4903201
