Co Leitrim: from €225,000: Nick Faldo will make a personal appearance tomorrow at the launch of 48 houses on the magnificent Lough Rynn estate outside Mohill, Co Leitrim.
The houses, which have valuable Section 23 tax allowances, will be located beside a world championship golf course which Faldo has designed as well as a luxury hotel and a leisure centre and spa.
The launch will take place in the offices of Hooke & MacDonald, who are joint agents with Lloyd Property Partners, based in Mohill.
Located a two hour drive from Dublin, the 18th century estate was the ancestral home of the Earls of Leitrim. On the scenic approach to the castle are copses and paddocks, two lakes and a a rustic bridge. The overall development will consist of 69 houses in three courtyard developments dotted around the original gardens of the castle.
The houses cost from €225,000 for 86 sq m (930 sq ft ) three-bedroom townhouses and from €235,000 for 93 sq m (1,000 sq ft) townhouses. There is one four-bed detached house in this phase which is 130 sq m (1,410 sq ft) and is €320,000. Standard features include fitted kitchens, good-sized livingrooms, en suite main bedrooms, family bathroom, downstairs toilets, gas central heating and fitted wardrobes in two bedrooms.
The houses are expected to be completed from October this year and are eligible under the Rural Renewal tax incentive scheme, which allows tax relief against total rental income over a 10-year period.
Perks for purchasers include membership of the golf course, subject to certain qualifying criteria and free fishing in the lake which, according to the agents, teems with tench, roach, perch, pike and bream.
Owners could also boating from their own marina and picnic in a turreted summerhouse overlooking the lake. The leisure centre, which is currently being planned, will have a private indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, spa and treatment rooms.
The house and gardens, which stretches across hundreds of acres, date back nearly 200 years and are being restored by developer The Hanly Group.
Lough Rynn Castle, which is actually a Gothic Victorian manor house, is having many of its original features restored including its oak panelling, original cornicing and plasterwork, and is being turned into a 42-bedroom hotel operated by Sovern Hotels. This is the chain which runs Adare Manor in Ireland and in London, the Ritz,and the Mayfair Regency. The French stableyard will be converted to give extra accommodation.
The hotel will have conference and wedding facilities, a restaurant and bar and is due for completion in autumn 2005.
The golf coursem which will be finished in spring 2006, will take up 200 acres around Lough Errew, which is close to Lough Rynn.
It will incorporate rivers, woodland, parkland, and a prehistoric dolmen. The clubhouse will be hidden in a belt of ancient woodland, while the leisure centre will be contained in the walled garden.
A marina is being built on Lough Rynn, which has over a quarter of mile of lake and gardens and will have nature trails and lakeside walks.
