Italianate splendour in West Cork
CAtherine Mcauliffe of Savills in Cork (00 353 214 271371) is handling the sale—at a guide price of €2m—of the imposing, early-19th-century Ardnacarrig House on the outskirts of the historic town of Bandon, 19 miles from Cork city and a 20-minute drive from Cork airport.
The house stands in about 19 acres of wonderfully private gardens and grounds on the banks of the River Bandon and comes with extensive river access and fishing rights. it was built in about 1820, when it was known as Park View, and owned by James C. Allman, who had a distillery on the other side of the river, once one of the most successful in ireland, producing 600,000 gallons of whiskey a year in its heyday.
entered via a pretty gate lodge added in about 1880, Ardnacarrig House is rendered invisible to the outside world by its massive banks of towering specimen trees. According to proud owner Kate Mccarthy, who bought the house with her husband, Tom, in 1989, many long-term residents of the town don’t even know it’s there. During their tenure, the Mccarthys have lavished time, money and a lifetime’s experience of the hotel business to put their own stamp on this remarkable house, while respecting its early-19th-century character.
extensive renovations were carried out on their arrival at Ardnacarrig and again in 2010, with new bathrooms installed and all the main rooms richly decorated in the italianate style. An old-fashioned conservatory was removed to create a huge terrace that floods the main reception rooms with light. in all, Ardnacarrig has 7,500sq ft of quirkily arranged accommodation on three floors, including a lounge, drawing room, a huge kitchen/dining/living area and a guest apartment on the first floor; a master suite, four further bedrooms and three bath/shower rooms on the second floor; and a large ground-floor space with an L-shaped open-plan kitchen/living/dining area and another bedroom.