THE doors of Munville House in Lisnaskea are being flung open this weekend as part of the historic property's 250th anniversary celebrations.

A coffee morning took place from 10am this morning, when visitors were given an opportunity to have a look at the interior of the house.

The property will be open to the public once again tomorrow (Sunday), from 2pm to 6pm, during which refreshments will be served.

Donations from the open weekend will go towards the Heartbeat NI charity, current owner, Timothy Elliott, has revealed.

Munville House was built in 1767 by the Noble family, wealthy landowners in the area, having come over as land stewards to the Scottish Balfour family, of Castle Balfour, a century earlier. The Nobles owned land in many parts of Fermanagh and further afield.

The Noble family were replaced in around 1890 by the Maguire family as owners and developers of the house and farm.

They continued in stewardship for slightly more than 100 years, until, after a brief period of unoccupancy, Mr. Elliott took over in 1999.

At this point, Munville became the base for the Manor Garden Centre, originally started at Drumgoon Manor, Maguiresbridge. It continues to operate from there to this day.

Mr. Elliott, one of the owners of Dowlers of Lisnaskea, said that the development of the house and the stories of its owners make for “fascinating reading”.

He intends to produce a small booklet on the subject, which will be made available during the season of anniversary events.

The exterior and interior of Munville has changed many times over the years.

Major work took place in the early part of the 20th century to replace the windows at the front of the house, giving the property its present, almost Venetian, villa appearance.

The interior has also changed during the last 250 years. However, the main body of the house has been returned to its original floor plan of reception rooms, with many original features retained or even brought back.

The main square block of the house was added to in the 1890s with a lower annexe portion. This was added to accommodate the many horse buyers from all over Europe who regularly visited the house to buy livestock.

In around 1950 the other side of the house was complemented by a sunroom, which was very modern at the time but more common nowadays.

As is common to all Georgian houses of the period, built facing due north, natural daylight was scarce in the main reception rooms.

Work on the interior has been ongoing for a number of years and is almost complete.

The 250th anniversary events will continue in early July with a flower festival based in the house. Two similar events were held some years ago and were very successful.

Meanwhile, the year of celebration will conclude at the end of November with a Christmas tree festival in aid of charity.