Tudenham Park House (), originally called Rochfort House, is an 18th-century

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

located in Tudenham Park on the Rochfort Demesne near

Belvedere House and Gardens Belvedere House and Gardens is a country house located approximately from Mullingar, County Westmeath in Ireland on the north-east shore of Lough Ennell. It was built in 1740 as a hunting lodge for Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere by ...

beside

Lough Ennell Lough Ennell () is a lake near the town of Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is situated beside the N52 road, off the Mullingar/ Kilbeggan road. The lake is part of the Lough Ennell Special Protection Area. It is long by wide, with an ...

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, Ireland. The house is known for being involved in an ordeal with

Robert Rochfort Robert Rochfort (9 December 1652 – 10 October 1727) was a leading Irish lawyer, politician and judge of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He held office as Attorney General for Ireland, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, ...

's brother, George, which resulted in Robert constructing The Jealous Wall so he would not have to look at his brother's grander house.

History

The construction on the house began in 1717, and it was completed in 1742 for George Rochfort. Later a glass house designed by Richard Turner was affixed to the property. It was purchased by Sir Francis Hopkins in 1836, and the name was subsequently changed from Rochfort to Tudenham Park. Hopkins' tenure lasted 34 years until the property was sold to the affluent Tottenham family in 1870. On 7 March 1906, Charles Gore Loftus Tottenham inherited Tudenham House and land from his grandmother. The house was used as a hospital and

convalescent home A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

for army officers during World War I and World War II and was still in military possession in 1945. The Tottenham family had not lived in the property since 1952; and in 1958 the house was gutted by a fire that destroyed the roof but spared the walls, chimneystacks and main façade, which still stand to this day. The family decided to sell the house ruin and land in 1963. As of 2023, the house is largely covered with overgrown vegetation, and multiple efforts have been made to conserve the property since 2005.

Sale of the property

In December 2013, the land, including the house, was sold at an

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

for €681,000 to a businessman from County Westmeath. In October 2023, the property again went on the market with a guide price of €1.2m.

Gallery

File:Tudenham Park House, Co. Westmeath (1) - geograph.org.uk - 5029703.jpg, Tudenham House File:Tudenham Park House, Co. Westmeath (4) - geograph.org.uk - 5029715.jpg, View from the south File:Tudenham House architecture.jpg, Architectural detail of the south elevation

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Mullingar 1742 establishments in Ireland Richard Cassels buildings