Aghsmear House, outside Roscrea, Co Tipperary, is one of those properties that make you sigh at the sight of the brochure – a lovely, rambling Georgian pile set on 30 acres of land.
The three-bay, two-storey former rector's home dates from the early 1800s. According to the University of Galway's Landed Estates of Ireland, the property was valued at £4.50 at that time, rising to a value of £22 in 1906 – when the estate included 2,218 acres. Today it is on the market through joint agents Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes and Sherry FitzGerald Fogarty, asking €875,000, after being sold at the bottom of the market in 2013 for €590,000.
“As there is a huge shortage of good-quality period homes, there will be interest from both national and international buyers,” according to Roseanne De Vere Hunt of Sherry FitzGerald.
The grounds include parkland, woodland and paddocks with good grazing – which are stud-railed with water feeders in each field. To the rear of the property – with secondary access in addition to the formal pillared entrance – lies a courtyard with stables and cut stone outhouses, which themselves offer more potential should the 515sq m of space that the house provides not be sufficient.
One of the most interesting – and indeed charming – parts of the property is the front porch. The ogee-arched door and trefoil-headed windows throw light on the old chequered tiles, where aspect and light allow the current owners to grow tomatoes, adding to the bounty from the old orchard on the grounds.
The property has five bedrooms in total. To put the size of the rooms into context, the ensuite master bedroom, with wonderful views of the gardens, occupies 47sq m – which is larger than the current Minister for the Environment’s regulation size for one-bedroom apartments.
Reception rooms, of which there are three, enjoy all the trappings of a Georgian property: shuttered sash windows, deep architraves and fine period fireplaces.
The spacious kitchen lies adjacent to a utility room of the same proportions, and the property also has a large basement, offering potential for a passive wine cellar.
New owners may want to update parts of the house – the green-painted floorboards in the diningroom may not be to everyone’s taste, but the bones of a charming, well-maintained country home are all here.
Aghsmear House lies three miles from the M7, and is a 45-minute drive to Limerick and 10 minutes to Roscrea.
