Stories of Guinness: The Houses of Guinness - Adrian Tinniswood

The Guinness story is written not only in brewing ledgers but also in stone, brick and landscape. In The Houses of Guinness, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood explores the remarkable homes built, inhabited and transformed by the Guinness family over the course of two centuries.

From great Irish estates such as Farmleigh and Luggala to celebrated houses like Kenwood on Hampstead Heath, these buildings reveal the evolving ambitions of a family whose wealth and influence spread across Britain and Ireland. Through architecture and domestic life, Tinniswood reconstructs the world of a dynasty that rose from Georgian Dublin to become one of the most powerful families in the British Isles.

Blending architectural history with vivid stories of social life, philanthropy and family drama, this talk opens a window into the country-house culture that shaped elite society — and the complex legacy that accompanies such power.