Ferns: €1.75mWith the sense of history, space and elegance that comes with a period country house, Woodview House has all the ingredients for a fine family home. Intrepid commuters might even think of travelling the 70 miles from Ferns to the city, now that the Gorey bypass is about to open.
Savills HOK is quoting an AMV of €1.75 million prior to auction on June 21st for this 436sq m (4,693sq ft) property, which is about five miles from Ferns, Co Wexford.
Originally known as Ballingale House after the townland, Woodview is mentioned in Houses of Wexford by David Rowe and Eithne Scallan.
It was built in 1755 for the tutor to the de Rinzy family, Mr Turner, who married their daughter. The Turners' son, Rector of Edermine, was killed in the 1798 Rising. Charred timbers from a fire during the rising were uncovered during restoration. Woodview House was re-incarnated in 1916 as a poultry farm and gardening school for women.
Going on for three centuries later, the house has been extensively renovated and extended and the original gardens created by Mr Turner have been lovingly tended. Woodview stands on six acres of gardens and woodland, at the end of a short avenue lined with oak, beech and limes. The River Slaney flows by at the end of a sloping paddock.
Up a flight of granite steps, the roped and tasselled front door opens to a wide hallway, off which are the main rooms. To the right is a timber-floored diningroom, with deep coving and door to a cosy breakfastroom.
A parlour of the same proportions is across the hall, both rooms looking out through multi-paned Georgian windows to the river. A study beyond the parlour could be used as a seventh bedroom for a very large family.
Downstairs at basement level are a big country kitchen, family sittingroom, laundry, double bedroom and family bathroom.
Five further double bedrooms are on the first floor, comprising four doubles (two en suite) and a good-sized single room. A half-landing on the first floor return houses yet another bathroom, this one a glamorous space with rolltop bath and fireplace.
Behind the house, the walled garden has a hidden courtyard with a pretty two-bedroom guest cottage. There is also a stone stable block and two storerooms which could be converted into yet more accommodation, subject to planning. The paddock at the front of the house is studded with ancient trees, framing the valley and river views.
