The Swiss Cottage, in Co. Tipperary, is built just above the River Suir. A fine example of 19th-century cottages ornees, it was a sort of fantasy getaway house for the wealthy Butler family. Designed to replicate the aristocracy's ideals of the rustic life, it includes a genuine thatched roof, stick-work verandahs, and period furnishings. It's sort of a strange place, with an Alice-in-Wonderland feel . . . but charming, all the same.
