A very popular destination with tourists and one of the most photographed places in Ireland. Popular with Game of Thrones fans.

With varied walks through the woods, and the lovely Black Glen, the estate has awesome cliff top views of Benone and Downhill Beach. Downhill beach was used by Game of Thrones for the filming of Season 2 Episode “The Burning of the 7”

The Rt Rev. Dr Frederick Hervey (as he was at the time), Church of Ireland Lord Bishop of Derry, commissioned work at Downhill Demesne near the village of Castlerock in the early 1770s, after he was made the Bishop of Derry in 1768. Downhill House, overlooking Downhill Strand and Benone on the north coast of Northern Ireland, was built by the architect Michael Shanahan. After the death in 1803 of Lord Bristol the estate passed to his cousin, The Rev. Henry Bruce, who had acted as steward of the Estate during the Earl-Bishop’s absences.^[3] Bruce’s sister was Frideswide Mussenden, for whom Mussenden Temple was built, and which became a memorial after her death.

Downhill was recorded to have escaped serious damage during the Night of the Big Wind in 1839, but in 1851 a fire damaged a significant part of the house and destroyed the library. Bishop Lord Bristol had amassed a large collection of art, which was kept at Downhill and another residence he built at Ballyscullion. The fire destroyed works by artists including Correggio, Dürer, Murillo, Rubens and Tintoretto, although it was reported that most of the paintings had been saved.

The restoration of the house began in 1870 and continued until 1874 under John Lanyon, the son of architect Charles Lanyon, who maintained many of the original features, although some of the original layout was altered and additions made to the floorplan and decor.

During World War Two, the house was used to billet RAF servicemen and -women. The Bruce family continued to own the house until 1946; by 1950, it had been dismantled and the surrounding land sold. The house was acquired by The National Trust in 1980; the temple had become a Trust property in the 1940s.

Article courtesy of Wikipedia.