luxury real estate for sale Stoneyford, Ireland

Chantry House Chantry House is a distinguished early twentieth-century residence set amidst approximately 0.6 hectares (1.4 acres) of mature, landscaped grounds. Constructed in 1928, this impressive detached home stands as a testament to enduring architectural character, thoughtfully restored and reimagined to meet the expectations of contemporary living. It has undergone a meticulous programme of refurbishment, preserving the integrity and charm of the original structure while introducing refined modern finishes of exceptional quality. The result is a residence that effortlessly balances period elegance with contemporary sophistication. Approached through a striking pillared entrance and along a sweeping double driveway, the property immediately conveys a sense of arrival and distinction. Entrance steps lead to double-leaf glass panelled doors opening into a welcoming porch, setting the tone for the refined interiors beyond. Inside, the accommodation unfolds with a natural flow and generous proportions, each room benefitting from an abundance of light and carefully considered detailing. The ground floor offers a harmonious blend of formal and informal living spaces. Two gracious reception rooms provide an ideal setting for entertaining or quiet relaxation, while the beautifully designed open-plan living and dining area creates a bright and inviting heart to the home. The bespoke kitchen is fitted to an exacting standard, combining functionality with elegant design, and is complemented by a separate pantry and utility room, ensuring practicality without compromising style. Throughout, the interiors reflect impeccable attention to detail, with finishes selected to enhance both comfort and aesthetic appeal. To the rear of the residence lies an attractive internal courtyard, adding further character and versatility to the property. One of the adjoining outbuildings has been upgraded and modernised into warehouse space, complete with rollers shutter door, whilst the other out houses present significant potential for additional accommodation, subject to the necessary planning permission. This flexible space enhances the overall adaptability of the home and offers exciting scope for future development. Ascending to the first floor, five generously proportioned double bedrooms provide luxurious private accommodation. Each bedroom benefits from its own ensuite bathroom, offering a rare level of comfort and convenience. The design of these rooms ensures both privacy and elegance, making them ideally suited to family living or to hosting guests in style. The surrounding grounds extend to approximately 1.4 acres laid in lawns and a well-established orchard of apple trees. While Chantry House currently serves as a magnificent private residence, its scale, layout, and strategic location present a wealth of alternative opportunities. Its proximity to the M9 Dublin, Waterford motorway ensures excellent connectivity, making it ideally positioned for ventures such as boutique hospitality, a retreat or wellness centre, corporate headquarters, or a destination restaurant, craft or garden centre. The property’s flexibility, combined with its architectural charm and accessibility, sets it apart as an exceptional investment opportunity as well as a remarkable home, all subject to the requisite permissions. Chantry House represents a rare chance to acquire a substantial and beautifully restored period residence of true distinction. It offers the unique combination of refined country living within a close-knit community, while remaining conveniently connected to major transport routes and amenities. Elegant, versatile and impeccably presented, this is a property of enduring appeal and exceptional potential.

An attractive 250-acre (100-hectare) parkland estate with Sopwell Hall, an attractive early Georgian country home built in 1745, and the striking Killaleigh Castle, which dates to circa 1590. The estate is situated equidistant of the historic towns of Birr, Roscrea and Nenagh. The nearest small town is Borrisokane, some 5 miles or 8 kilometres away and the nearby village of Ballingarry is 5-minutes driving. The nearest international airport is Shannon, just over an hour driving, and Dublin and Cork airports are around 2-hours driving. Whilst being wonderfully secluded the estate is nearby to town amenities and easily accessible, with the M7 motorway accessible some 12.4 miles or 20 kilometres away. The house is privately and centrally positioned deep within mature parkland that extends to a tree lined perimeter. The castle is unoccupied but largely intact. The accommodation is grand and beautifully executed, with the principal house comprising 14,235 square feet (1,322 square metres) and including 5 principal reception rooms and 10 bedrooms. A studio and 3 estate lodges combine to present an additional 3,424 square feet or 318 square metres. The castles 4,000 square feet or 369 square metres. The stone outbuildings comprise 9,158 square feet or 851 square metres. Built in 1745, to a design attributed to the renowned architect Francis Bindon, Sopwell Hall is imposing yet welcoming and conforms to the best traditions of early Georgian architecture. The house stands three storeys over basement with direct access from the ground and basement levels. The magnificent reception hall, lined with distinctive fluted Doric pilasters and divided by a screen of arches, is spacious and well-proportioned. A morning room, study, drawing room and dining room are each impressive. Displaying the very best features and proportions of fine Georgian architecture each is filled with natural light, has impressive large marble chimneypieces with open fires and ornate cornicing. A feature of the entire house is the abundance of natural light with ample tall and large glazed windows. The lower level includes a sitting room or den, a large kitchen, wine cellar, laundry and staff apartment. A broad carved staircase leads to a generously large landing on the main bedroom floor. Impressive architecturally, there are six matching scagliola sienna marble columns and a large, perfectly proportioned domed ceiling, with a glazed atrium. There are 5 principal bedrooms and 4 bathrooms on this floor. The Master Bedroom Suite occupies the south-eastern corner. The second floor provides 5 further bedrooms and a bathroom and has a games room and study. A Studio , positioned in the adjacent courtyard , comprises some 660 square feet or 61 square metres. The estate is a haven of tranquillity and privacy that is rare in the 21st-century. Positioned at the end of a half-mile drive Sopwell Hall occupies a central position within its own estate and enjoys a panoramic view over the park and woodland. The outer parts of the estate comprising a perimeter woodland belt and creating a great sense of privacy and seclusion. Among the many ancient and specimen trees throughout the estate are some particularly fine Spanish chestnut, a noted ancient beech wood and a rare Siberian crab-apple tree. The woodlands include indigenous oak, beech, ash, larch and spruce. All through the year there is a kaleidoscope of colour throughout the estate. There is, too, much wildlife to be found on the estate. Red squirrels, pine martens, foxes and hares are regularly sighted, and buzzards, owls and falcons can also be found. The Coillte forestry, circa 500 acres, which adjoins the estate provides great amenity with access to long walk ing trails in beautiful surroundings. Of the circa 25 0 - acres or 1 01 hectares within the estate about 100-acres is in woodland . Additional circa 50-acres grassland available.

The Old Rectory sits at the heart of a thriving, cultivated demesne situated on 28 acres. The beautifully proportioned classical house addresses a lawn surrounded by trees. It is not quite what it seems. The façade projects the modest comfort and good taste appropriate for a country rectory, but inside, it is a house fit for a bishop. Radiating from the house are the wing, basement, outbuildings, yards, walled garden and demesne; all supported a life lived on a magnificent scale. The Old Rectory was built in 1819 for Charles Warburton, the son of a Protestant bishop, and the grandson of a blind Catholic harpist. The architect is unrecorded, but Warburton more than likely engaged James Pain, the talented English architect who had recently moved to Ireland to work with John Nash, to design his new house. Other rectories with similar elevations would have contained two or maybe three rooms on the ground floor, four modest-sized bedrooms and a basement for the servants. That the Old Rectory was far grander is immediately apparent on entry into the hall, where the gently calibrated stair rises from under a broad elliptical arch supported by gilded Corinthian columns. The large reception rooms – morning room, drawing room, dining room – each with long shuttered windows, panelled doors and elegant ceiling plasterwork – interconnect, bringing a wonderful sense of spaciousness to the house. There was also a library. Upstairs there were three large bedrooms each with a dressing room. Such a house was run by servants who had their own stair and lived and worked in the wing and the vast basement. The present owner, who grew up in the house, has restored and fully serviced the house without sacrificing its historic integrity. The house has been modernized but has escaped modernism. Measures taken to provide contemporary services are discreet. Warm air heats the house through ducts concealed in the attic and basement. The house has been rewired. Fibre-optic cable for highspeed broadband has been installed, and there is WIFI coverage to all the buildings on the estate. Running parallel to the house is a tunnel with an abrupt end. A subterranean mystery. Perhaps a place to retreat to; a reminder of early nineteenth-century Ireland when there was unrest in the countryside and when, in 1807, the bishop, Warburton’s father, was shot at in Limerick. The steel-plated ground-floor shutters and the bars that secure them are a witness to those troubled times. The tremendous repair work carried out over thirty years extends to the outbuildings, yards and gardens. The impression of care is palpable when you enter the red-painted gates of the avenue: the rose under the young trees, the bee hives towards the house. This love extends to the stables where large-scale renovation ensures a structurally stable roof composed of old and new timbers, a rebuilt stair and invisible steel beams for a building that retains its rough walls and dusty atmosphere: a building saved for the future. The life that is palpable in this house extends to the gardens. In the orchard traditional apple tree scions have been grafted onto existing rootstocks and Shropshire sheep graze the grass. The woods have been extended with plantings of hazel, beech, birch, and saplings inoculated with truffles planted ten years ago. The organic-certified field to the north of the house is grazed by Droimeann cattle, a native Irish breed. Barn owls and many other birds thrive in this diverse landscape. In a house where gold gilds the Corinthian columns while even after a thorough overhaul the stable retains the depredations of age, it is clear that the place has been loved for what it is. This is unusual and precious. The Old Rectory and the land that surrounds it waits for the next chapter in its existence, confident that it has the strength to remain old in the modern world. Text by Dr. Judith Hill