Bowden in his Travel Guide of 1791 as a 'terrestrial paradise', the design of the landscape was inspired by Lord Charlemont's extensive Grand Tour.
There had also been another ornamental building, extensive gardens and the main Marino House (which was demolished in the 1920s). The Casino is all that remains of the Lord Charlemont's eighteenth-century demesne at Marino. After his 9-year Grand Tour of Italy and Greece, Caulfield was taken with all things Italian, and decided to add a 'little house' to his estate, which he had already named after the town of Marino in Lazio. The name 'Casino' is the diminutive form of the 18th-century Italian word 'Casa' meaning 'House', thus 'Little House', and is not used in the modern sense of 'gambling establishment'. Although proud of the design, Chambers was never able to visit the completed building, as he was constantly employed in England. It is a small and perfect example of Neo-Classical architecture, situated in the gardens of Marino House. Sometimes erroneously described as a folly, it was designed by Scottish architect William Chambers for James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont, starting in the late 1750s and finishing around 1775. The Casino at Marino is a summer or pleasure house, located in Marino, Dublin, Ireland.
