Co Meath: €2.95m A restored former workhouse on 1.2 acres - now run as a quality guesthouse - comes with many extras, writes Kate McMorrow
A former workhouse is the unlikely setting for an upmarket guesthouse in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath that has just come on the market through Douglas Newman Good.
The agency is expecting €2.95 million at auction on June 8th June for the 743sq m (8,000sq ft) seven-bedroom property, which sits on 1.2 acres of grounds.
The building was derelict when Dermot and Niamh Colgan discovered it back in 1987.
It took almost five years for local builder Liam Flaherty to put it to rights, replacing the roof, floors and windows, re-plastering and restoring the arched pitch pine ceiling in the former boardroom.
Another local craftsman, Billy Inglis, laid the intricate tiled floors in the hall, kitchen and bathrooms.
The orientation was already excellent, with most of the rooms trapping all-day sunlight. All seven bath and showrooms were re-fitted in traditional style, with rolltop baths and old-fashioned sinks. Power showers were a must for the Colgans if their guesthouse venture was to become a success.
The couple decided to use strong colours in the formal rooms and chintzes in the bedrooms, to create a feeling of intimacy in the spacious rooms and as a foil for their collection of antique furniture.
This attention to detail (and no doubt their superb service) won an accolade from Bridgestone as one of the top 10 guesthouses in Ireland. The Workhouse's lovely cut-stone exterior sets the scene for a truly breathtaking interior.
A welcoming dining hall larger than the average drawingroom has chequered floor tiles and a marble fireplace with wood-burning stove. The only subdued room in the house is a sittingroom where the family congregate, with bookshelves either side of a fireplace. A practical working kitchen/breakfastroom has plenty of oak cupboards and a tiled floor. There is also a butler's pantry with Belfast sink, a food pantry and utility, also with Belfast sink.
Three double bedrooms, two en suite, and a separate bathroom are also at this level. Up on the first floor is a library with extensive bookshelves, family bathroom with cast-iron fireplace, drawingroom, third sittingroom, second family bathroom and four bedrooms, two en suite.
With its beamed ceiling like an upturned boat and royal blue walls, the huge drawingroom is a breathtaking sight. Period fireplaces stand at each end, one with an oak surround rescued from a Powers Whiskey boardroom, the other from a London antique sale.
Outside, a three-bedroom cottage was built from stone from the original walled garden behind the house. Stone used in the main entrance pillars came from a country house in Navan and pretty iron latticed windows opening to a courtyard came from an old workhouse chapel in Tralee, Co Kerry.
Having made a success of their unusual guesthouse, the couple are planning to retire, go on holiday more often and generally take life easier, says Dermot Colgan.
