Castleacre's House Of The Month - The Art of Seeing a House
Castleacre’s House Of The Month – The Art of Seeing a House
- 22 July 2026
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- Posted by: Castleacre
Castleacre specialises in protecting period properties, heritage houses, and protected structures. We know just how much hard work and time the owners invest in looking after these buildings, breathing life into them and helping them remain integral to Ireland’s cultural and community history.
Each month, we focus on the story behind one of these remarkable homes. This month, we spoke to interior designer, lecturer, TV personality, and conservation specialist Dr. Neville Knott and his husband Thomas about Clonhaston Manor in County Wexford.
How Neville Knott Looked Beyond Restoration to Re-create a Home Filled With Memory
Some people walk into an old house and notice the wallpaper, the fireplaces or the sweeping staircase. Neville Knott, a conservation consultant with decades of experience who has spent more than a quarter of a century leading Ireland’s longest-established interior design degree programme at the Technological University Dublin, notices what has been lost and what needs protecting- an altered doorway, a Victorian insert replacing a Georgian fireplace, all the details that show the subtle evolution of a room over time. To Neville, every interior is a discourse between past and present, and every decision made during restoration should be sensitive to that narrative.
Neville has spent much of his career helping others preserve period homes, appearing in popular shows such as ‘Showhouse Showdown’ and ‘Neville’s Doorstep’. When it came to his own home, he and Thomas spent almost a year searching for the perfect Georgian property. They were not looking in specific counties or for a property with an impeccable interior; they were looking for a house whose story was still intact – that was when they discovered Clonhaston Manor near Enniscorthy in County Wexford.
‘People assume a house like (Clonhaston) must have arrived fully formed,’ Neville says ‘In fact, it is a conversation between two centuries – a Georgian house that was given a Victorian Voice. Our job has been to make sure that neither one shouts the other one down…’.
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Clonhaston Manor offered the opportunity to apply their philosophy to a place they could finally call their own.
Thomas continues, ‘The temptation with a house like this is to decorate at it, but the rooms already know what they want to be. The joinery, the shutters, the plasterwork – they set the tone. You listen first, then you furnish.’
Some of the more formal Georgian rooms have been restored as faithfully as possible, but in other parts of the house, they have allowed ideas to evolve – respecting the history without allowing the house to feel frozen in time
A Decision Made by the Sea
Finding Clonhaston Manor was not something Neville and his husband had anticipated would happen as quickly as it did.
At the time, they were living in Dublin and viewed Clonhaston Manor, overlooking the River Slaney, just before a trip to Spain. It was while sitting together on a beach on the Mediterranean that the conversation kept returning to the house and what their future could look like there. Away from the distractions of everyday life, they found themselves asking whether Clonhaston was somewhere they could see themselves creating a home, and the answer was clear.
They contacted the estate agent and asked if the owner would be willing to take the property off the market if they promised to try and sell their Dublin home within the month. When they returned to Ireland, events moved faster than they could have imagined. Their Dublin home sold within just two weeks, opening the door to a new chapter at Clonhaston Manor and the beginning of their restoration journey.
Looking Beyond the Problems
Unlike many buyers, Neville and Thomas were very pragmatic and realistic about what was required to restore Clonhaston.
Alongside decades of wear, the roof was leaking extensively. Chimneys needed significant repair, and water had compromised much of the upper floor.
Rather than seeing problems, Neville saw possibilities.“We went into this with our eyes wide open,” he explains.
Work began from the top down, stabilising the roof before attention turned to restoring ornate plaster ceilings, decorative joinery and the elegant reception rooms that define the Georgian house. The process was deliberate and methodical. Complete one room properly before moving to the next. It also became an important psychological milestone. During every major restoration both interior enthusiasts have undertaken, they choose one principal room, restore it completely, fill it with furniture and close the door on the dust outside. At the end of a long day surrounded by scaffolding and plaster, there is always one finished room waiting to lift your spirits.
Every Room Has a Story
Antiques and artworks that were bought or inherited have been carefully selected along with wallpapers and colour tones to suit the light and dimensions of each room.
“We spend a lot of time curating a room,” Thomas says.
One of the most exciting transformations was the dining room. Once converted into a kitchen, it has since been returned to its original purpose. The Georgian doors have been painstakingly restored, mahogany bookcases preserved, and the room opened back out towards the gardens.
With a nod to later Victorian renovations, Neville and his husband, who is also an interior designer, chose deep, dramatic colours inspired by Victorian libraries and the atmospheric interiors described in Dickens’ novels. Dark walls, dark ceilings and dark floors somehow create one of the brightest and most welcoming spaces in the house. It perfectly captures the couple’s philosophy.
