PROPERTY INVESTORS Aidan Farrell and Charlie O’Reilly Hyland have just hired no less than five big name estate agents in the latest attempt to offload the 383-acre Woodhouse Estate at Stradbally, Co Waterford.
The early 17th century manor house and the land has been offered for sale in various lots over the past year or so but, with the big spenders now out of the market and farming going through a rough patch, it hasn’t been possible to shift the country pile.
Now the pair of investors, who bought Woodhouse from Middle Eastern owners about four years ago, have appointed Savills in Dublin and London as selling agents along with Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate in New York, Prudential California Realty in Los Angeles and Intermark Savills in Moscow.
The new guide price is a modest €7.5 million and, according to David Ashmore of Savills in Dublin, more than half the enquiries are coming from overseas, particularly the UK.
Woodhouse is one of about a dozen sporting estates remaining in the country, and the likelihood is that it will end up being used for driven shoots – a lucrative business with increasing numbers of sportsmen looking to book a day’s shooting.
The estate has a superb forest with more than 150,000 – mainly oak – trees which were planted way back in 1742. The grounds also include a trout and salmon river.
The house has grandly proportioned rooms with original features, such as Italian fireplaces and newly restored sash windows and wooden shutters. There are four main reception rooms, a conservatory, 10 bedrooms and a bathroom.
