20th Century Fire and Renovation
In 1961, the estate, was sold by the 9th Viscount, Mervyn Patrick Wingfield, to the Slazenger family, who still owns it to this day (2010). Wendy Slazenger, daughter of the late Ralph Slazenger, married the 10th Viscount, Mervyn Niall Wingfield, in 1962. Through her children, the Hon. Mervyn Anthony Wingfield and the Hon. Julia Wingfield, there remains a strong family connection between the two families and the Powerscourt Estate.
The house was destroyed by fire on 4 November 1974, while it was owned by the Slazenger family, and was subsequently renovated in 1996. Only two rooms are open to the public as they once appeared while Powerscourt had residents, while the rest of ground floor and first floor are now retail units.
Read more about this topic: Powerscourt Estate, History
Famous quotes containing the words century, fire and/or renovation:
“It will not always be summer; build barns.”
—Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.)
“Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 24:17.
“Forgetfulness is necessary to remembrance. Ideas are retained by renovation of that impression which time is always wearing away, and which new images are striving to obliterate. If useless thoughts could be expelled from the mind, all the valuable parts of our knowledge would more frequently recur, and every recurrence would reinstate them in their former place.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)