With a job that has taken her to beaches in Mexico, chateaux and vineyards in France and some of Ireland’s finest hotels, the place this wedding photographer chose to make home was a two-acre plot in Gorvagh, Co Leitrim.
After being Paris-based for 12 years, the owner found the spot online in 2022 and immediately came to see the charming house perched the edge of a forest.
Known as the Old School House, it initially dates from 1900 (it operated until 1970) and lies near the scenic towns of Ballinamore and Mohill. A plaque to the rear of the property reads: “Glostermin National School 1900″ and serves as a memento to the heritage of this lovely home. Original floorboards and cut-stone walls along with vaulted ceilings are just some of the reminders of the property’s past in this quiet, undisturbed part of the country.
Having been renovated to its current condition in 1997, interiors are a blend of old-world charm with a bit of quirkiness thrown in for good measure, but the Ber of D1 may be something new owners will want to address in the 95sq m (1,022sq ft) house.
Inside the flagstone front hall lies one main room (the former schoolroom) under a vaulted ceiling, with a nook for a home office tucked off one end. Heated by an open fire, the room houses the dining area, while a spiral staircase leads to a mezzanine laid out as a livingroom – a spot difficult to capture with a camera due to its low-slung ceiling.
In galley style, the kitchen was a children’s cloakroom in its former life, and though not large, the use of old bricks to frame appliances works well against its cream country-style theme.
“It doesn’t need landscaping and I am a fan of rewilding,” says the owner of the grounds. To this end she has planted a small orchard with 12 apple, plum and pear trees, while a forest (run by Coillte) runs behind the house. Home to deer, she says it’s lovely to watch fawns as they visit to eat windfalls in the orchard, and the whole two-acre site is a veritable wildlife haven with hedgehogs, stoat and fox, not to mention the only sound you’ll ever hear is that of birdsong.
The owner and her two dogs are moving to her home county of Longford to be closer to work. She’ll miss her Leitrim hideaway though: “If I could take it with me I would. It’s completely charming and while it’s very private, there are neighbours close by.”
To this end, she has placed this little Leitrim gem on the market through Abbey Property Sales seeking €279,000.
