Laois' renowned hotel Castle Durrow is currently a talking point nationally, being the star of the More4 four-part docuseries Country House Auction. The series was filmed in August 2023, and captured an auction held on the premises through Sheppard's Irish Auction House. The first episode aired last Tuesday night, where viewers got an inside peek into the gorgeous 18th century home, and saw the preparations that came with hosting the auction.
Owners Tessa and Robin Leidig discussed their experiences while filming the show, and the trials and tribulations of today's hospitality sector. "It's exciting, it's obviously something we've never done before," said Tessa Leidig. "It was completely out of our comfort zone, and the first day was quite daunting.
We became so comfortable with it as time went on, and had so much fun with the crew," Mrs Leidig said. "We are very old fashioned, we don't need to spend much money on advertising," said Mr Leidig. "It's just an odd post on social media and word of mouth.
Every couple that comes in here has either attended a wedding here, or had a close friend who has attended one. "We don't know what's ahead of us now with the show, we are definitely reaching people we wouldn't have before, which is a bonus," Mr Leidig said. Before the episode had even aired, the couple had potential guests calling and flying over from the UK based on the programme's advertisements.
Pictured: Robin and Tessa Leidig, owners of Castle Durrow. The first episode of Country House Auction saw the Leidig's background preparations for the event. Thirty minutes before the bidders were to arrive, the lights suddenly went out in the auction room.
Mr Leidig managed to calmly fix the issue with the wiring himself. "You can see that there was nothing staged about it, it was all very genuine. Even in the first episode with the lights, things just cropped up as it happened," said Mr Leidig.
"Naturally with every hotel, you don't rely on just one thing, there's a backup for everything. I don't think I get stressed, do I?" Mr Leidig asked Mrs Leidig. "You're like a duck, you paddle like crazy underneath the water, and remain completely calm on the outside," Mrs Leidig agreed.
"If there's ever an issue, I don't think there's much point in getting too worked up about it. There's always a solution to everything, and you need a cool and level head to deal with it," said Mr Leidig. "I'd miss the little problems if we didn't have them, I get a thrill from sorting them," he said.
Viewers got a sneak peek for next week's episode, which saw sheep breaking out of a neighbouring field and grazing on the hotel's back lawn. "Guests who aren't familiar with the countryside might take a walk and leave a gate open, the next thing you know, there could be sheep, horses and cattle out on the back lawn! But that is one of the quirks that makes [Castle Durrow] so unique, where else would you get that?" laughed Mrs Leidig. "It's an authentic country house- and then some!".
The hotel recently posted an amusing picture of 'wedding-crasher' Honey, who joined a wedding party on the lawn. When asked about an average day running the 18th century country house, the couple said that no day is the same. "Each week is so different here, it's not your normal hotel," said Mr Leidig.
"It's not a stuffy five star hotel, this is our home that we're sharing with people," Mrs Leidig said. "As a wedding venue- there are lots of wedding venues out there that are stunning country houses and homes, but you have the professional element here where it is a functional hotel," Mr Leidig explained. "That's why the auction here was definitely out of the ordinary, but in comparison to other events we host, it was a walk in the park really.
we have some amount of corporate events here, that are the other extreme." "It was definitely a challenge, it's something we have never done before, on top of the filming which was new to us too, but we were able to enjoy it more," Mrs Leidig agreed. With a film crew of 40 following the couple, the Leidigs were at first overwhelmed, but grew to enjoy it.
"We had great enjoyment with the film crew because we spent so much time with them, we got to know them on a personal level. They sent flowers when they went home, it was so sweet of them," Mrs Leidig said. "I never watch TV much, but it puts such a different perspective on television for me.
You take so much for granted until you see how these things work," Mr Leidig explained. "I think the show did such a good job with showcasing the house. It's gained a lot of publicity and we've already got attention from America," he said.
"We do have a lot of international weddings, people just love Ireland. Couples who had never previously been to Ireland before, and mightn't have a personal connection with the country, will come and have their weddings here," Mr Leidig explained. "We could show them Castle Durrow over Zoom, and they just love it and book it.
" Pictured: The iconic Castle Durrow, originally built as a family home between 1712-1716 by Colonel William Flower. The couple commended the rise in publicity and advertising that county Laois receives as a tourist hotspot. "In recent times, there are more things putting Laois on the map.
Prior to that, it was very quiet. For a long time Laois was just farmland," Mrs Leidig said. "The waterways are being developed, the Slieve Blooms are being developed nicely, there's blueways happening here.
The river Erkina joins us, I'm quite into canoeing and kayaking so hopefully that's an activity that can happen soon," said Mr Leidig. "It has really helped put Durrow on the map for people outside of Ireland, and that's already obvious from some of the reception we've started to receive already." Filming of the series began in August of 2023, while Mrs Leidig was eight months pregnant with their daughter Florence.
The couple watched the first episode of the four-part series at home with family. "Lots of people have asked us if we had a viewing party last night. It was nothing that exciting- in reality we were just rushing to get home from doing the grocery shopping, hoping we wouldn't miss the start of it!" Mr Leidig laughed.
"We got home in time thankfully, myself and Rob watched it with my sister in law, my Mum and our nephew. Of course Flo didn't want to go to sleep, so she watched it with us too. And George and Sylvia!" said Mrs Leidig.
The Leidigs have two dogs, one mini-Pomeranian named George, and a gorgeous Pointer named Sylvia. The two stole the show in last week's episode. Pictured: The auction taking place in the first episode.
Property of More4. "Obviously we had seen parts of it in little glimpses, but it was nothing like watching it live, and knowing everyone else was watching it too," the couple said. "I have three sisters that live in England, and my sister Hannah FaceTimed me and said, "oh, it's so funny that you said that, I can't believe you gave Jeff a shoutout, why didn't you say anything about me!'.
It's been so funny," Mrs Leidig laughed. "So much time has passed since the filming took place, we had forgotten about so much of it. It felt really fresh.
" "We started filming last summer, but even before that, it had been in the works for a while," said Mrs Leidig. "It was super fun and you meet quite interesting people. It's nice seeing pieces that might fit in here too- it's great, you don't even have to leave the house! Online shopping from home," she laughed.
Mr Leidig explained that he believes it's the way that an auction should be held. "Auctions have period pieces that should be in an environment like ours, seeing it in situ makes good sense for the buyer. It does both the place and the pieces justice," he said.
"A lot of these auction houses are online brochures, catalogues or cluttered areas. "There were so many experts and specialists for particular pieces, so you have all that advice to hand. Even the element of catering- if there were outdoor pieces for sale, you could even use the garden here.
"We're used to holding big numbers, a typical auction house mightn't be," Mr Leidig said. Castle Durrow is a wildly popular spot for weddings in particular, hosting an average of two weddings per week. "Obviously our diary is limited- we have enquiries for 2027 at this point.
"This year is fully booked, next year is fairly full- I'm living in 2026 at this stage!" Mrs Leidig said. "It's just about keeping that balance between events, and opening up other opportunities," Mr Leidig agreed. "We were busy, but then obviously when we had little Florence, it's been another level altogether," said Mr Leidig.
"Obviously having a baby is a job in itself- when you work for a company, it's very tough," Mrs Leidig explained. Pictured: Some of the pieces up for auction in episode one. Courtesy of Big Mountain Productions.
"But when you work for yourself, and your job is also your life, that's your other baby too. It's really fun, but challenging as well," she said, "You can't just close the door behind you, they're both jobs that are 24/7. Nothing ever stops," Mr Leidig agreed.
"These are challenging times, every second newspaper article is someone in the hospitality sector having to close, or on their struggles," he said. "It's a very testing environment at the minute. Covid-19 obviously ruffled a lot of feathers, and we navigated through that.
We survived that, which pretty much means we can survive anything. "You really can't keep your eyes off the ball in today's climate. It means coming up with new opportunities and maintaining the quality that we are, but that's our purpose.
Every time we go home, we're sitting on the couch coming up with new ideas," he explained. "There's never an idle or dull moment. Everything is a shared decision, and finding the time to tease out these ideas is often at the dinner table or over breakfast.
It's not for everyone, but Castle Durrow has always been run as a couple," Mr Leidig pointed out. Mrs Leidig's parents, Peter and Sheila Stokes, bought Castle Durrow in the 1990's, and established it into the luxury stay that it is today. "I grew up watching my parents do the same, so for me it's completely natural," said Mrs Leidig.
"Rob has taken to it like a duck to water." "We could never imagine doing it without each other," Mr Leidig agreed. "The amount of activity in our lives in one year could be the equivalent to another couple's in a decade!" he laughed.
The couple share an immense sense of pride in the hotel. Particularly Mrs Leidig, who has grown up on the property. "We were always in here playing while my parents were working, once we became old enough we began working here too," Mrs Leidig explained.
"The hotel is our life, it is our family. It's our home. It's like a farm- everyone in the family works on it, and has that shared pride," she said.
"Whether it's our own children or our nieces or nephews, we would love for Castle Durrow to continue on in our family," the couple agreed. "But it has to be followed by passion. If you don't have the grá for it, it could seem too big of a beast," Mr Leidig said.
"Every waking moment- and even sleeping moment- goes into it," said Mrs Leidig. "It'll certainly be Flo's first job- hospitality is a great learning curve for people, regardless of your career path," she said. Mr Leidig agreed, saying that a role in hospitality is something that everyone should be exposed to.
The Leidigs attest that the filming of Country House Auction has been both exciting and entertaining. "It's real, that's what I love about it," Mr Leidig said. "You can feel the buzz of the auction through the programme, the adrenaline that was in the room.
They did such a good job of portraying it, it's a credit to them." Viewers can catch the first episode of Country House Auction on the Channel4 iplayer, with the next three episodes due to air on More4 every Tuesday night at 9pm..
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