Househunters in the market for a manageable country property close to the city could consider Mason Lodge at Magheracloone, six miles from both Ardee and Carrickmacross.
This period coach-house in Co Monaghan comes with 12 acres of land and an interesting range of outbuildings suitable for conversion. For auction tomorrow, it is set to make over £200,000 through Carrickmacross agent Gartlan.
The three-bedroom house on four acres carries a guide price of £150,000-plus while an additional eight acres of pasture on the other side of the road is estimated at £50,000.
This property is bound to bring out the romantic in buyers. The main house is of cut-stone and dates back to 1878. A range of stone stables and outhouses surrounding the property stems from a much earlier period when the lodge was a staging post for horse-drawn carriages on the road to Derry. The lodge is about 30 minute's drive from Dundalk or Drogheda. It has been totally refurbished in the past year by the previous owner, now deceased, with a new roof and plumbing system. Flagstone floors and solid timber doors add to the old-fashioned character of the lodge.
There is a flagged entrance hall leading to a big country-style living area which incorporates an antique pine kitchen. An open-hearth fireplace in the sittingroom has hand-cranked bellows and the original arm and hook for a kettle.
A new owner, however, will prefer the well-equipped kitchen with its Belfast sink, fridge and modern cooker. A utility room also has a Belfast sink and flagged floor. There is a double bedroom off the hall with an off-white ceramic tiled floor which would double as a study or television room.
The family bathroom on the ground floor has a Triton power shower.
Stairs from the sittingroom lead to two double bedrooms on the first floor, both with en suite bathrooms. A large walk-in airing cupboard serves as a wardrobe for the main bedroom, which has an original pine floor and looks out over the stable yard.
The outhouses and stables, although not used as such for some time, have obvious potential. Between the courtyard and the main house there is a fortified passageway with musket apertures in the walls, dating from a time when bandits preyed on stage-coaches.
The four acres around the house are in need of attention because of the recent extensive renovations. Tall pine trees shelter the front garden and an orchard which was once a commercial proposition is stocked with very old varieties of apple, pear and plum trees. A cut-stone building close to the house with an attractive arched entrance provides parking for two cars.
Eight acres on a sloping lakeside site currently used to graze sheep are to be sold separately .
