882 Antrim Road, Templepatrick, Templepatrick, United Kingdom, BT39 0AH
[Photo: The Templeton Hotel, Templepatrick.]
Blending in beautifully with the rest of this fashionable village, The Templeton is built on the site of the old Pig ‘n’ Chicken, once owned by Sir Cyril Lord and where the carpet millionaire once entertained the rich and the famous. The New Hotel is owned by Stephen and David McCombe, local Antrim builders who built it for the staggering sum of nearly 4 million pounds and it certainly shows. This new Opulent establishment is called after Lady Elizabeth Templeton, an aristocrat and an 18th century writer who lived in Castle Upton (across the road) now the home of Sir Robin and Lady Coralie Kinahan. It was Lady Elizabeth who transformed the former priory into a delightful country mansion. In her honour Sir Robin erected a plaque in her memory on the site of Bessie’s Moss – an old meandering walk planted with English moss which she designed in 1793 and what is now called Kingscourt, now a network of 8 luxury houses all named appropriately after the wives of Henry V111.
I have to admit it’s an eyecatching building that certainly wouldn’t look out of place in a Swiss setting. The Architects (Parker and Scott) by taking into account the industrial background of the area have successfully created a unique building by using natural materials which have had a ‘weathered look’ and a design which reduces the height and volume of the building by allowing the roof to fall to ground level in places, which at the same time creates intriguing internal areas. The Hotel consists of two interlocking buildings. The one on the left is the bedroom block consisting of 20 bedrooms, including 4 executive rooms and connecting the two buildings is the reception area with a charming small cocktail bar. Here the window design is most unusual, it would remind one of the high medieval Cathedral windows except these are made of wood. In the main building, on the ground floor can be found the tasteful Templeton Restaurant and adjacent to it is the Upton Grill bar which is cleverly split into two levels where customers can actually watch the grill chefs at work in the open plan kitchen below in the lower tier. The large function room which covers the entire first floor is called the de Courcy Room and is capable of holding 400 seated.
Everywhere you look is wood – the spacious wood floor …. called Junkers flooring actually ‘sways’ when the dance floor is in full swing. Needless to say its soundproof and the Hotel management has decided not to run a nightclub or discotheque, but prefer instead to specialise in cabaret with top International acts. Dominating the function room by far, is the giant crystal chandelier weighing and a quarter tons and estimated to have cost a cool £70,000. Throughout the interior of the building, there are ever-changing views highlighted by creative use of colours and textures and once again complimenting the general use of natural materials, Marlborough Interiors was responsible for the decor and what a fine job they did.
A separate entrance at the front of the building leads you into Sam’s Bar, named after the director’s late father Sam McCombe. This is a two tier bar, cleverly designed with an authentic local feel about it which will appeal as much to the locals as to the passing traveller. Dominating the lower tier is a large open reclaimed fireplace with its welcoming turf fire. This adds to the atmosphere, creating a homely Ulster feeling and authenticated by a nice grey slate floor that you used to see in the old Irish cottages. Tables have mosaic covered tops (available upon request) whilst their iron feet are embossed with the words ‘Sam’ Bar’. The bar is not without a touch of real finesse with the purchase of a fine row of 5 pews from a Dublin Cathedral, if you lift the seat up, lo and behold you will find another small seat underneath it so as to rest yourself while standing. The proper name for these seats are ‘misercord’ and the entry in the Oxford Dictionary makes interesting reading. ‘A small projecting bracket or shelf on the underside of a hinged slot in the chair of a monastic church, to allow a slight rest when standing’ I also liked the small stone sculptured old man as you enter the bar which seems to add still more originality.
It only opened for business in early September and yet already it has a lovely country olde worlde about it making it look years older.
It very seldom happens that a new building like the Plush Templeton blends in so harmoniously with a sleepy little village like Templepatrick, I’m sure the ghost of the beautiful Lady Elizabeth Templeton looks down approvingly at this impressive holstery raised to her memory.
[Photo: The Templeton Hotel, 882 Antrim Road, Templepatrick, Ballyclare, County Antrim, BT39 0AH — “An exquisite combination of the charm of yesteryear with the sophistication of today.”]