Your Luxurious Retreat in County Kildare, Ireland

Welcome home to the Irish Countryside

An Castán sits amidst rolling farmland, offering a safe haven for families with its lush green surroundings and thoughtfully refurbished interiors. Explore the exquisite interiors designed by Elaine Makenzie-Smith in 2024, creating a perfect blend of modern comfort and Georgian charm.

Castán House

This beautifully appointed home is called “Castán” House, translated “Chestnut” from the Gaelic/Irish language. It is located between the villages of Straffan and Rathcoffey, near Maynooth in Co. Kildare, just half an hour from Dublin City Centre and Dublin Airport. A welcoming gate opens to a long gravel driveway leading through the trees to your new home away from home in this elegant Georgian-style country house on almost 2 acres of mature lawns. Set well back from the road making it safe for families with children, the house is nestled in rolling, lush green farmland grazing a variety of horses, cattle and sheep! The house was thoughtfully and very stylishly refurbished throughout in early 2024 by Elaine Makenzie-Smith from Number 10 Design in Naas, Co. Kildare!

Year Built: 2010
Fully renovated: 2024

Come in, Get Cozy

Through the front door, you enter a welcoming foyer lined with Victorian inspired floor tiles. To your right you will find a mud room with built-in cabinets for jackets, shoes and wellies; to your left you will find and a luxurious half-bathroom.

Count sheep (literally), from the couch or over coffee

From the entry foyer, continue into the central great room with double height windows and a roaring fire in the wood-burning stove with comfortable couches and seating; a great spot for drinks to rehash the days golfing at the nearby K Club or historical Carton House with your friends before dinner.

Unrivaled Comfort

Off the great room to your left is a spacious main living room with couches, area rug, smart television, another wood stove, and a large dining table with seating for ten. This room has French doors leading onto the back patio and the large garden area beyond.

Kitchen by Design

Enter the heart of the house to the right of the great room, the kitchen! Designed and installed by local designer, Kevin Kelly from Kelly Interiors just down the road in Naas, this kitchen showcases Kevin’s passion for excellence in design and installation with superior bespoke crafted cabinetry and a lighting design that will be sure to delight. For the cooks amongst you, we have high-end Siemens conduction hob and convection oven appliances. If the weather allows, the large glass wall door can be retracted to bring the outside in; the patio dining area becomes an extension of the kitchen. There is a concealed pantry beyond the kitchen with plenty of food storage for longer stays along with full laundry appliances for your convenience in the back kitchen.

The bar: We have provided a few drinks in the bar area, please help yourselves and if you feel like replacing what you use, that would be great! If not, feel free to leave a tip for the cleaners!

Note: If you would prefer to have an alcohol-free stay then that’s no problem; just let Caithriona our House Manager know in advance and we will make sure to stock soft drinks and seltzers instead.

Just Cook For Me…

 
Let Paula Brown and our friends from nearby Brown Box Catering make your stay efforless by allowing them to prepare your meals and snacks with a range of delicious menu options below.
 
Just let us know what best suits your group. Please give 48 hours notice prior to your arrival at Castán House and we will have it waiting for you in the fridge ready to throw into the oven or on the grille.
 
Brown Box can also schedule deliveries throughout your stay to suit your needs.  

 

Bedroom Retreats

Ascend the staircase to find four beautifully renovated bedrooms, three with en-suite bathrooms. Enjoy a night’s rest on cozy wool carpets surrounded by accents of tweeds, mixed wools, and leather. The master bedroom boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and a spacious walk-in closet

Master Bedroom

Bedroom #2

Bedroom #3

Bedroom #4

Luxury Main Bathroom

The double height great room has a staircase and balcony that leads up to the four great bedrooms all accessed off the balcony overlooking the middle Great Room. Three of the bedrooms have full en-suite bathrooms attached and the fourth bedroom is right beside the main bathroom. In here you’ll find beautifully modern bathroom fittings throughout with a pressure shower. This bathroom also boasts a newly-glazed extra-large bath that will allow you soak away for hours!

All bedrooms have been renovated with cozy wool carpets and each of the rooms use accents of tweeds, mixed wools and leather which will allow you to cozy up for a good night’s rest after a day of country pursuits or after rambling in the streets of Dublin City. Black-out curtains have been installed in each bedroom to provide the best sleep experience ever! Three bedrooms have beautiful luxuriant king sized beds.

The large master bedroom boasts an ultra-luxurious super-king size bed with a full wall of floor to ceiling windows overlooking the surrounding landscape, great to watch the stars as you fall asleep. Of course, if you prefer darkness, pull across the full-length black-out tweed curtains for a sound night’s sleep! This room also offers a large walk-in closet to accommodate any traveler, whether an efficient packer or not!

The Gardens and Grounds

A welcoming gate opens to a long driveway leading through the trees to your new home away from home in this elegant Georgian-style country house. Set well back from the road making it safe for families with children, the house is nestled in rolling, lush green farmland grazing a variety of horses, cattle and sheep!
We should note that the grounds still need a bit of work following the renovations, but this will be finished as soon as the weather allows with upgrades to the patio, driveway and lawns planned for completion this Spring! In the meantime, this is the perfect place to unwind and recharge in the quiet
and peaceful heart of County Kildare.

Welcome to Golfing Country!

Castán House is at the center of one of the most important golfing destinations in Europe. Offering
very special golfing experiences with two 5-star golf courses close by; The K-Club is 5 minutes
down the road and Carton House is 15 minutes’ drive away. Also close by are Powerscourt,
Castleknock, Westmanstown, Blackbush, Portmarknock and quite a few more!
https://www.kclub.ie/golf.html
https://www.cartonhouse.com/golf

The K-Club

Carton House

Kildare – The Thoroughbred Haven

Discover the equestrian allure of Kildare, celebrated for its horses, races, and stud farms. Experience the thrill at renowned racecourses: 

The Curragh, Punchestown, and Naas, all just a short drive from An Castán. Dive into the county’s horse breeding legacy at the Irish National Stud. Goffs, Ireland’s top bloodstock sales company since 1866, is a quick 15-minute drive away

Dublin at your doorstep

Dublin for lunch? Shopaholic on Grafton Street? Classical at the National Concert Hall? Drama queen at the Abbey, Gate or the Gaiety theater? History Buffed at the Kilmainham Gaol or Trinity College? GAA ga for Sport at Croke Park? All a very short drive from Castan House or hop on the train in Sallins or Maynooth.

Your host…. Caithriona

Caithriona is highly experienced as an Airbnb host since 2017 and is the epitome of the traditional Céad Mile Fáilte Irish welcome! "Céad Mile Fáilte" is an Irish phrase that means "a hundred thousand welcomes". It's a traditional greeting used to welcome visitors to Ireland or to express goodwill and hospitality towards others and none does it better than Caithriona! A seasoned global traveler herself, Caithriona’s heart remains in Ireland. “I love hosting and meeting new people from all over the world. I really enjoy hearing about other cultures, and I love to share Ireland’s culture. I am very privileged to live in such a beautiful country and my mission is to make my tiny slice of it even better. So, pack your bags and get ready for a stress-free and wonderful stay at Castán House!”

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