Kilkenny city's most expensive house, Newpark Lodge, has a good pedigree and development potential. Michael Parsonsreports
Earlier this month, the London-based Academy of Urbanism - a self-appointed group of movers and shakers who promote good quality urban living throughout Britain and Ireland - announced that Kilkenny had won its "Great Town" award. The Marble City had been short-listed against some formidable opposition: namely, Winchester, one of England's most attractive cathedral cities, and St Andrew's, the posh Scottish university town which Prince William chose for his studies.
At the awards ceremony in the Dorchester Hotel on swanky Park Lane in London, the academy chairman, John Thompson, said it was "great to have an Irish town coming through in this year's awards, especially Kilkenny, which is coming to terms with economic growth without losing its wonderful character and humour".
Reacting to news of the award, John McCormack, spokesman for the local authorities, said winning the award "has shown that Kilkenny is up there with the best of Europe and is a unique place in which people choose to live, work and interact".
A lot of people seem to agree. Kilkenny is one of the country's most popular visitor destinations and an increasingly popular choice for people seeking to escape from the capital.
An exceptionally fine residential property which has just come on to the market is expected to attract considerable interest among well-heeled locals and potential relocators from Dublin. Newpark Lodge, an elegant, spacious and very comfortable 279sq m (3,000sq ft) home set in private and secure grounds on the Castlecomer Road is being sold by tender on December 12th. Sealed bids are invited by the joint agents Sherry FitzGerald McCreery, Kilkenny and CBRE Dublin. Bids in the region of €2 million are expected.
Newpark Lodge was the home of the late Bobby Kerr, founder of the adjacent landmark Newpark Hotel, which is also being sold. Mrs Kerr is moving to Limerick to be closer to two of her children. The five-bedroom, Georgian-style house on a 1.83-acre site has extensive, secluded gardens and is shielded from 300ft (91 metres) of road frontage by lovely mature trees and a cut-stone boundary wall.
While the lodge is certainly the most desirable - and expensive - family home for sale in Kilkenny city it is also likely to attract interest from developers. The 1.83 acres surrounding the house are zoned residential and are just a comfortable walk from the new MacDonagh Junction shopping centre and the railway station.
