Richard Cassels: Encyclopedia II - Richard Cassels - Notable works

Richard Cassels - Notable works

Some of the finest of Cassels works in order of commencement are listed below. (Dates often vary from on source to the other)

Richard Cassels - Trinity College Printing House

This perfect small doric temple, was completed in 1734, and is thought to be Cassels' first major solo work. A four-columned portico of doric columns projected from the rusticated severe building and the entirety is only the width of the portico. (This building is sometimes attributed to Edward Lovett Pearce).

Richard Cassels - Carton House 1739

Cassels made large alterations to the Carton house in County Kildare between 1739 and 1745 for the Earl of Kildare. The resultant facades were in his usual restrained and symmetrical style. The great garden facade is terminated by Venetian windows at each end, while in the centre, a single storey portico is so unostentatious as to be almost a porch. The roof-line is hidden by a balustrade, broken by an unsupported pediment over the central bay. The interiors are a riot of plaster-work ornamentation. The Lafranchini brothers, famous for their plaster-work, executed some of their finest work here, and would work again with Cassels at Russborough.

Richard Cassels - Russborough House 1742

Russborough was designed by Cassels for the 1st Earl of Milltown, Joseph Lesson. It was built between 1741 and 1755. A central block containing the principal rooms is flanked by curved and segmented colonnades leading to two symmetrical service blocks. The main entrance, at the centre of one of Cassels's trademark 'suggested' porticoes, is on a raised piano nobile. It is reached by a broad flight of steps. The principal feature of the interiors are the rococo plaster-work and the ceilings, again by the master stuccoists Paul and Philip Lanfrachini; and ornate carved marble fireplaces, all contrasting with the austerity of the exterior.

Richard Cassels - Summerhill

This vast palladian mansion in County Meath was originally designed by Pearce, who died before the project was commenced. Cassels took over the project and was responsible for the rococo interiors. The building was damaged by fire in the 1920s and finally demolished in the 1950s.

Richard Cassels - Powerscourt House 1741

Powerscourt House, Wicklow This large country house, originally a 13th century castle, was completely rebuilt by Cassels circa 1741. On a commanding hilltop position Cassels deviated slightly from his usual sombre style, to give the house something of what John Vanbrugh would have called the 'castle air' - a severe palladian facade terminated by two circular domed towers

Powerscourt House, Dublin Obviously pleased by Cassel's work at their country seat in Wicklow, the 3rd Viscount Powerscourt commissioned Cassels to design his Dublin town house in William Street. Built on three principal floors above a sunken basement, it is unusual for its series of curved topped windows on the ground floor, with the more traditional rectangular pedimented windows on the floor above. The front elevation of nine bays has a Venetian window above the main entrance as its central feature. The facade is devoid of pilasters, having only rusticated cornerstones as decoration. A pediment crowns the central projection. The interiors, as at Russborough and elsewhere, were again in the rococo style, contrasting with the exterior.

Richard Cassels - Tyrone House 1740

Cassels designed this Dublin town house for Marcus Beresford, Earl of Tyrone, in Marlborough Street between 1740 and 1745. Smaller than Powerscourt House it is said to be the first substantial aristocratic house to be built in the north of the city. It is fine example of Cassels' robust sober style. The central Venetian window above the principal entrance is the sole example of decoration or flamboyance to the this dramatically severe facade.

Richard Cassels - Leinster House 1745

The house was originally known as Kildare House after James Fitzgerald, the Earl of Kildare, who commissioned Cassels to build it between 1745 and 1747. Intended to be Dublin's grandest mansion, the result could not have disappointed Kildare. (see Leinster House). It is said that another Irish architect James Hoban later copied the facade of Leinster house for his design of the White House in Washington (although Castlecoole designed by James Wyatt bears a closer resemblance).

Richard Cassels - Rotunda Hospital 1757

Originally the main maternity hospital for Dublin, it was redesigned by Cassels who transformed it into a palladian palace, complete with a rotunda which gives the hospital its name.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Notable works", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki