‘It’s still a family environment and our guests seem to like that’, Hannah Kennan told Mary Leland in The Irish Times in early 2011. Thank heavens for family continuity, for new generations who are happily carrying on the pioneering work of their parents. Can you just imagine what would have happened to Roundwood if it had fallen into the hands of some ‘developer’. The family environment would have been the first victim of such a change – even though it explains everything about this gorgeous house – quickly followed by a lavish spend that would have obliterated the very thing that makes Roundwood so lovable – the fact that it isn’t polished and perfect, but has, instead, a wabi sabi quality to it.
Wabi sabi Roundwood? Well, yes, Roundwood expresses the perfection of imperfection, the beauty of something aged, something organic. And now, blessed with the energy of Hannah, and her husband Paddy, Roundwood is perfectly poised for the future, the family environment intact, ready for the next 300 years.
