DURROW: €1.5m:POOR, unloved Laois! The county is the "least popular" holiday destination in the State according to a myhome.ie survey. Indeed, young Irish people are more likely to visit Laos – given South-East Asia's popularity on the Gap Year circuit.
It was ever thus. The writer Frank O’Connor observed that Laois “is a county you simply can’t miss on your way to Cork or Limerick, as it spans the two highways, and most people are naturally quite satisfied to leave it at that”.
The Lonely Planetguide is more gracious and suggests: "Get off the main roads, and you'll discover the hidden corners of Ireland's heartland: pleasant heritage towns, the unspoiled Slieve Bloom Mountains and a patchwork of rivers and walkways". Durrow is a pleasant Georgian town on the River Erkina and was, until recently, one of the country's worst traffic bottlenecks. But peace and calm have been restored, now the Dublin-Cork M8 motorway is open.
Archerstown House, in the townland of The Ballagh, is a six-bed home, built with limestone, on a two-acres with views of the Slieve Bloom mountains. It is for sale through John Bonham, Auctioneer (087-207-0191) who is seeking “in excess of €1.5 million”.
The vendors, Bob and Marian Campion, who run a charming riverside pub – Bob’s Bar beside the old bridge in Durrow – are selling because their children have grown up and the house is now “too big”. He built the house himself over a six-year period.
An elaborate, electric-gated entrance (now practically de rigueur, in “one-off” rural houses) has borders with the name of the house spelled out in box hedging. This is a very large house, completed in 2003, with over 465sq m (5,000sq ft) of space. Most of the accommodation is on the ground floor which is entirely tiled in marble. Five bedrooms are en suite. The main-bedroom is spacious enough to make even the four-poster bed seem Lilliputian and is linked, via a wrought-iron spiral staircase, to a pitch-pine mezzanine area. A bathroom – as capacious as Ancient Rome’s Diocletian thermae – is dominated by a huge, black-marbled, raised pedestal area into which is sunk a double Jacuzzi bath.
The centrepiece of the house is a jaw-dropping dining/living area of over 74.3sq m (800sq ft) – bigger than many Dublin apartments. The style is Victorian neo-Gothic and the vast space, partially lit by stained-glass porthole windows, has a double-height ceiling clad in pine and hung with chandeliers. The soaring mock-baronial fireplace wouldn't look out of place in Balmoral. But the pièce de résistanceis a full-size mahogany bar with taps for Guinness and Carlsberg already installed.
Opposite the bar, and not to be attempted after a few pints, another wrought-iron spiral staircase (they each cost €15,000) leads to a snooker room with a billiards table, a separate livingroom/den, a huge sixth bedroom (which could be divided into two) and yet another bathroom.
Outside there are two patios, south-facing lawns and a garage/workshop.
The house is close to forest walking trails in Capponellan Wood. The agent, who is also a Fine Gael councillor, describes Durrow as “a wonderful community where everybody is welcome”.
Archerstown Lodge, The Ballagh, Durrow, Co Laois
A six-bed home with five en suites built by the current owners
Agent:John Bonham
