Few use lockdown to make above stately dwelling in County Down

couple who discovered by themselves living by yourself in a stately manor during the pandemic used the time to revitalise its historic interior.

Neil Watt, 36, moved into the best floor of the Castle Ward mansion in Co Down with his companion Kris Reid, 29, in March soon after remaining appointed collections and household manager of the Nationwide Believe in property.

Mr Watt, who has a PhD in Irish country houses, was planning to welcome 1000’s to the common 18th-century visitor attraction on the financial institutions of Strangford Lough but all those strategies ended up quickly upended by coronavirus and the resultant year of lockdowns.

In its place, Mr Watt and Mr Reid, who is himself learning for a PhD in heritage, used most of 2020 with the massive home to themselves.

The skilled conservationists did not put the time to squander, using the unexpected closure to breathe new existence into some of the mansion’s impressive functions.

As the months wore on, they tackled project immediately after challenge – restoring elements of Castle Ward’s shabby stylish interior back again to former glories. 

Initial there was the set up of a new dehumidifying technique to deal with a hundreds of years-outdated moist issue.

Then they established about cleaning and cataloguing the house’s collection of 2,000 guides, most relationship from the 18th century.

Castle Ward also features a person of the best sets of cooking pots and pans on the island of Eire, but more than the hundreds of years it experienced turn into blackened and tarnished.

The few took on the career of sprucing the 100 pieces just one by 1. They did the same with several other fixtures and fittings, which includes all the brass door handles.

The superior climate in the early summer time enabled the men to thoroughly clean the antique window blinds and conquer down the luxurious carpets and rugs.

There was also the delicate task of cleaning the crystal Victorian chandeliers.

Mr Watt, who is at first from Tyrone, claimed in any other calendar year the jobs would not have been doable.

“You only have so lots of hrs in the day and if the household is open up from 11am right until 5pm you cannot do all this operate in entrance of the public, for the reason that it would detract from their expertise,” he mentioned.

The duties were being not all functional. Mr Watt also took time to reimagine the tale of the house’s contrasting architectural variations – a single front Classical, the other fifty percent Gothic.

The extended-standing story was this “Frankenstein home” of two halves was the end result of a bitter row amongst the then Lord and Woman Bangor, with neither keen to give floor on their design and style choice for their new residence.

This tale by no means sat effectively with Mr Watt.

“There’s no way this was born out of an argument, nothing at all so trivial could have produced this household,” he reported.

So the home manager established a narrative to accompany excursions that in its place discussed the distinction as a deliberate fusion of the Classical type so modern in the 18th century with a Gothic ingredient to acknowledge the family’s storied background.

“1 very good matter to appear out of lockdown is that we’ve reimagined ourselves, we are not a Frankenstein’s monster, we are a sublime piece of architecture,” he reported.

When restrictions allowed, Mr Watt and Mr Reid, who is from Co Down, were served by National Belief colleagues and a small band of volunteers from the neighborhood space.

Castle Ward’s property steward, who was shielding in a further residence on the estate, also provided heaps of organisational help remotely.

“The folks of Strangford are excellent, they really are,” mentioned Mr Watt.

“They have been so welcoming to myself and my husband or wife. We are a gay couple who moved into a huge old region dwelling and truly, with no exception, even all through the trials of Covid, they could not have been far more welcoming, additional fantastic.

“There is just these a wonderful spirit right here. There seriously is. I imply if you could bottle it you would sell it.”

Castle Ward was capable to open up briefly to the general public in the late summer time, with restricted limitations in place, but it was not extended before the doorways had to shut once again.

Mr Watt hopes all the challenging perform will fork out off when the home can last but not least welcome again the public adequately.

Amid all the initiatives, he mentioned there has been time to cease and take in their amazing lockdown surrounds.

“If you get bored in the evening, to come down and see 18th-century landscapes of Strangford Lough, to stand less than wonderful Victorian chandeliers and walk via major Marmorino marble columns and that type of thing is really awesome,” he said.

“And a little something that we each love residing here is the look at, simply because from our sitting down home window we can see the city of Portaferry across the lough.

“And which is truly a person purpose why we have not felt lonely, simply because even when we have been in total lockdown, we could often see the twinkling lights of Portaferry across the lough.”