Picture perfect
Nothing has been spared in the restoration of this compact Westmeath estate, reports
ARDGLASS House near Rathowen in Co Westmeath is a compact country estate originally built in the 1700s. The property includes a courtyard, a renovated cottage, and extensive farmyard and 74ac. It is for sale by private treaty with a guide price of €1.575m.
Located off the N4 the estate is 3km from Rathowen, 2.6km from Ballinalack and 20km from Mullingar.
The residence was designed in the style of a Georgian hunting lodge but rebuilt in the 1860s in the style of an Italian villa with decorative features typical of the Victorian era.
The current owners bought the property three years ago and have spared nothing in restoring the house and grounds while respecting the provenance of the building and its surrounds.
According to Harriet Grant of selling agents Savills, the renovations and refurbishments were carried out in strict adherence to the Georgian tradition. Blue banger slates were used in the re-roofing of the house with all the timbers repaired or replaced.
A heating system run from a dual boiler was installed along with new cast iron radiators made in the original style. The house has been totally replumbed and rewired while all the windows have been restored and double glazed with the floors and walls insulated
The finished product is a fine residence with spacious and bright reception rooms with original tall windows and high ceilings.
The house has some fine features including Corinthian columns in the hall, ornate cornicing and centre roses, antique marble chimney pieces and original panelled doors with decorative architraves typical of houses of its time.
The accommodation includes a spacious main hall, a drawing room with a bay window, a dininging room with a wooden floor, a family room, a butler’s pantry and a study with a marble fireplace and corniced ceiling.
The ground floor is also home to a spacious kitchen with built in units, marble countertops, a four-door AGA cooker and a Belfast sink. Double doors lead from the kitchen to a patio.
There is a back kitchen along with a boot room and a back staircase leading to a laundry room and an old kitchen now used as a boiler/pump room.
The marble chimney piece in the drawing room is excluded from the sale but will be replaced with an alternative chimney piece.
The first floor is approached by two staircases from the return leading to a gallery style landing. The stairs leads to the ensuite main bedroom.
There are three other bedrooms on this floor with a fifth bedroom located on the first floor return. There is also a shower room and a hotpress.
Walled garden
The main garden is in lawn interspersed with mature trees, shrubbery and flowerbeds. The walled garden is located behind the main garden and adjoining the courtyard on the west side.
The accommodation also includes a 950 sq ft newly re- furbished cottage with a spacious open plan living room along with a kitchen, two double bedrooms and a shower room.
Reached through an archway and to the rear of the main house is the traditional courtyard with an array of single and double storey stone buildings.
There are five stables all lofted along with a coach house and garage. The courtyard has been renovated to include new shutters and doors and restored plasterwork.
There is an extensive range of farm buildings, which have their own separate access via a back avenue.
The buildings include a 30 ft double barn with a four-bay lean-to and a 25ft barn with a three-bay lean-to. Other farm facilities include a silage pit and a cattle crush.
In all Ardglass House sits on about 74ac set out in fields that surround the house. Mainly laid out in mature pasture the land is ideal for grazing but about 17ac are in new plantation forestry.
The lands have been newly fenced over the last year and are accessed via a separate farm entrance from the public road.