The entrance to a house on eight acres built in the early 1700s is in the centre of Leixlip, Co Kildare. It is for sale for €2.3m, writes ORNA MULCAHY, Property Editor

FOR those who hanker for a taste of country living but don’t want to live in the sticks, Marshfield House is a happy compromise. The stately Queen Anne house is surrounded by its own land, but the entrance gates are on Main Street, Leixlip, Co Kildare, the county’s largest town with a population of over 15,000.

Eight acres in total surround the house and sweep down to the banks of the Liffey with fishing rights included. The property is for sale through Colliers International asking €2.3 million.

Electronically controlled gates open to a long driveway leading to the front of the three-storey house which was built in 1713. There’s a second avenue to the rear of the property, called the Black Avenue, which exits close to St Catherine’s Park.

Inside, Marshfield is a comfortable home with a traditional feel and no basement – considered a big plus in the country house market.

“It’s in move-in order and “doing exceptionally well for its age” according to selling agent Marcus Magnier. The owners, who have lived here since 1988, have continually upgraded the house, rewiring, replumbing, installing an elaborate security system and adding two conservatories – one facing east, the other west.

The ground floor has a fine high-ceilinged drawingroom with a carved marble mantelpiece - one of six working fireplaces throughout the house. There is a separate diningroom, a spacious kitchen/breakfastroom complete with cream double Aga. Upstairs, the six bedrooms and two bathrooms are arranged over two floors. The attic is floored and could be converted, subject to planning.

There is planning permission in place to build a 72sq m (775sq ft) garage and stable block, while outbuildings include a large workshop and an original folly.

Marshfield House was built between 1711 and 1713 for Benjamin Rayner, a local innkeeper from Leixlip. Rayner leased the land from a Joseph Marriot, and as part of the deal he and contracted to produce “two dozen trouts yearly and every year at Christmas.”

The name Marshfield refers to Archbishop Marsh, founder of Marsh’s Library in Dublin, whose niece was an early occupant of the house.

The archbishop himself stayed there for a period according to a history of the house. Other occupants associated with Marshfield include generations of a Cavendish family.