Co Wicklow: €575,000A former schoolhouse a short commute from Dublin is full of charming original features, writes Rose Doyle
If it's history and charm you want in a house, and an out-of-town location, you'll find the lot in The Old Schoolhouse, Nuns Cross, Ashford, Co Wicklow.
In pristine living condition, the 106sq m (1,150sq ft) house has an open-plan living/kitchen/dining area with a gallery overhead. Stephen Clarke of Clarke Auctioneers is selling the house by private treaty for €575,000.
Its history as a schoolhouse is evidenced in original features like the sash and smaller multiple-paned windows, in once-familiar schoolroom wainscotting, in panelled doors with brass knobs, polished timber floors and thick, enduring walls.
High vaulted and beamed ceilings, some new and some original, impressively create space and light while dark stained wood is dramatic against white walls.
Originally located in Ashford village, The Schoolhouse was built in Nuns Cross in 1877 on a site donated by Col Charles Tottenham. (The original bequest for the school came from the Crofton family who left " two acres of land rent free and forever, along with £40 a year for . . . the education of the poor children in the Protestant religion").
The vendors, who have lived in The Old Schoolhouse for 12 years, have created a large, open living/kitchen space with a raised open fireplace dominating one end.
Light pours in from windows on all sides including, fetchingly, from a pair of original, multiple-paned windows over the fireplace. French doors, which must be 8ft tall, open onto a deck running along the rear of the house.
The kitchen area has a slated, underheated floor, Stanley range and pair of Belfast sinks.
A bedroom on the ground level has underfloor heating, the family bathroom has a deep bath, high ceiling and wood panelled walls. The gallery-mezzanine has been cleverly arranged so that it has a bedroom/study with Velux window, a bathroom also with a Velux and a second, attic-style bedroom with a Velux with views of trees and sky. There is a 255ft long, tree-filled garden to the side of the house and space at the side for parking.
