For decades, Britain and Ireland's aristocratic landholders have been confronting the challenge of retaining and maintaining their ancestral homes. Among the families that have managed to remain in residence, only a handful have taken the extra step of becoming hosts and lowering the drawbridge to houseguests from the outside.
It's a win-win concept. Owners obviously benefit economically (and by the way, staying in a private castle can be economical for groups, too), while guests get to immerse themselves in a world that most have previously only encountered in books and theme restaurants.
The newest trend is to open up private castles to corporate groups. While not all castles have been retrofitted to conference center standards, any necessary equipment is usually procurable.
These venues are certainly memorable for attendees. On the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, the luxury castle hotel, Swinton Park, is the centerpiece of a 20,000-acre estate comprising rolling parkland, a walled garden, lakes, moors, two villages, and even a fanciful early-19th-century druids' temple. The castle went through a spell as a management training center and was being eyed by a developer, but in 2000, Mark and Felicity Cunliffe-Lister (Baron and Baroness Masham) reacquired the family home, restoring it to its original glory and opening its doors to overnight guests. Although there's a restaurant, a spa, and a celebrity-chef-run cooking school, the atmosphere is anything but commercial.
"We decided to open the house to corporate business, as we really felt we had the makings of a destination venue with so much under one roof," Felicity says. "Corporate guests enjoy the fact that we are privately owned and offer an individual level of service. With the estate on our doorstep, we are able to expand our facilities and create programs for particular requirements."
Among the more distinctive offerings for groups are a formal Gosford Park "shooting" lunch with Champagne at the Deer House or out on the moor, bicycle polo, falconry and hawk walks organized by the Birds of Prey Centre, and a corporate training session working with horses to improve communication skills run by horse whisperer Sarah Kreutzer.
Less than an hour from Shannon Airport, in the scenic west of Ireland, Glin Castle is the hereditary home of the Knights of Glin. Built in the Georgian era, the castle is part extremely comfortable country house and part personal museum of Irish fine and decorative arts. Desmond FitzGerald, the current knight, is also president of the Irish Georgian Society and more than happy to speak with visiting groups about his family's collection.
With just 15 bedrooms, the castle is an ideal exclusive-use venue. "The house was built for entertaining, and we want it to be used. Having people here gives it life," says FitzGerald. It helps that the dining room serves excellent Irish Country House cuisine, using organic produce from the walled garden and locally produced meat. Plans are afoot to convert one of the old barns into a dedicated meeting facility.
There's an air of pride in its own eccentricity at Castle Leslie in County Monaghan, nearly equidistant from Dublin and Belfast. Despite its imposing Scottish Baronial facade, the castle's interior has an unstuffy, lived-in atmosphere.
The present baronet, Sir John Leslie, now in his 90s, is still an entertaining host and raconteur. Also residing is his niece, Samantha ("Sammy") Leslie. It's she who turned the estate into the thriving venture it is today, attracting celebrities such as Paul McCartney, who had his wedding there in 2002. "I took over when I was 24," Sammy says. "I'd always known this was what I wanted to do."
There are an additional 30 guest rooms in the recently restored Victorian Hunting Lodge, which overlooks the stable courtyard. More like a traditional hotel, it houses the organic spa, restaurant, pub, and meeting rooms.
With stone walls and crenellated turrets, Crom Castle, in the heart of Northern Ireland's Lake District, is undeniably romantic. Three years ago, the Earl of Erne and his son, Viscount Crichton, made the castle's West Wing available for the first time. Entirely self-contained, it's the perfect spot for a small corporate group seeking the utmost in seclusion and privacy.
"We specialize in peace and quiet; the house is cozy, and there are no ghosts," says Lord Erne. There are six rather grand bedrooms, a proper country house sitting room, and a beautiful glass Victorian conservatory for larger events. (Several National Trust cottages on the estate can house extra guests.)
Outside are gardens, a tennis court, a deer park, the romantic ruins of the original Crom Castle, and a pair of ancient yews, reputedly the oldest trees in Ireland.
When the Earl is in residence, he's glad to meet guests and give them a tour of Crom Castle itself, which was designed by Edward Blore, one of the architects of Buckingham Palace.
Originally published Dec. 1, 2008
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