Provost’s House

The Provost’s House boasts what I consider to be the most prestigious address in Dublin, ‘1 Grafton Street’. The Provost is imparted with one of the most luxurious residences in Dublin, understandable I guess if you’re the head of Trinity College.
Boasting Palladian motifs derived from designs by Venetian architects and symmetrical ideals of the ceremonial, classical temple architecture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, it stands swollen with pride next to Ireland’s premier university. On very few occasions a year, under the ‘Open House Dublin’ initiative organized by the Irish Architecture Foundation you go as part of a group inside the house and marvel at the convoluted interior furnishings, highly structured wooden paneling and intricate plasterwork.
Inside it is undoubtedly one of the most elaborately decorated houses you will ever see. The majestic saloon occupies the entire first floor of the house. The room is shortened visually because of columns positioned either end yet all in all remains vast in size and fortitude with its five windows and coffered ceiling. Illuminated by a Venetian window, the antechamber features a magnificent example of a cantilevered stairway.
On the way out you can see the receipts for all of the materials used in the construction encased in an elegant display cabinet. If you are in Dublin on the rare occasion that the Provost’s House is open to the public then I couldn’t recommend a visit enough.